Leviathan
by Pike2
Summary: Sequel to The 95th. Jonas and Cassie settle with Olmec but Ragnarok is closing in. Jonas must deal with his guilt and something darker that wants control of the universe.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG1 or any of its characters, nope not me, someone else.  
  
For all of you who wanted a sequel, hope you enjoy this but please be patient, this may turn out to be a bit dark..  
  
This is set two months after Jonas and Cassie went through the gate with Olmec.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ragnarok paced the chamber feeling the tension, not only his own but Aunbis's biting anger; it was hard some days to keep the creature inside of him balanced. Not that, that worried him, it was this unstable side of the symbiote that held such a morbid fascination for him.  
  
A light filled the room followed by the stinging zap of the transport rings and broke his chain of thought. Ragnarok stepped toward the human making eye contact with him, "Senator Kinsey, may I introduce myself, my name is Ragnarok," he began, holding out his hand, "I hope that we can come to some mutual understanding which will be beneficial to us both."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Jonas looked out at the meandering valley. He watched the creatures of the air skip on the kind breeze as they danced to the freshness of spring. He put his hand out of the small window to feel the life brought by the tuneful rain that was singing the birth of a new season.  
  
"Can you feel it?" Came the papyrus voice from the shadows of the room.  
  
"Yes," he replied.  
  
"What do you feel?"  
  
"Hope," the Kelownan said turning to meet Olmec's smile.  
  
"Hope, Jonas, it is always there, even in darkness there are stars to accompany us through the night's journey, guiding us to our destination," a cough rattled from within him.  
  
Jonas went to him, "should I get Cassie?"  
  
"No, she cannot heal me, my lesions are soul deep and are cut by the despair of the cosmos," he took Jonas's hand in his, "come I will show you."  
  
Jonas felt a terrible anguish surge through his body; it shredded his heart to rags and knotted in his throat, unable to release itself.  
  
"The universe is stretching," Olmec told him, "sinister hands are pulling it apart piece by piece. Can you feel the hollowness, the void that they have left?"  
  
"Yes," he said solemnly.  
  
"It is a balance I am too weak to continue to sustain."  
  
Jonas looked into the face of a man who was heavy with burden. Those eyes had lost their lustre, the milk of his skin was deep with furrows and his lips had become grave.  
  
"We have not failed yet," Jonas, reflected, trying to soften the mood, "we have many on our side."  
  
"Yes," Olmec replied and gave him a light smile, "help me to the window, Jonas, I wish to feel the light on my face."  
  
Jonas moved Olmec's basic chair so he had a view of the luxuriant landscape and then helped the old man to it, placing a woollen blanket over his knees.  
  
"Ah, the wonders of spring," Olmec said rejuvenating a little in the daylight.  
  
"Do you require anything else?" Jonas asked but the older man did not answer, he just stared beyond the horizon.  
  
"Olmec?"  
  
He turned to face Jonas, his face grey, thick tears rolling from his eyes, "they are close," he replied, stretching out a dappled hand to finger the sunlight.  
  
The Kelownan drew near, searching the distance acutely, "who?"  
  
But Olmec did not answer him. Instead he stood from the chair looking beyond this dimension, "oh, my children," he said in a voice full of sorrow.  
  
He began to shake as small sparks snaked from within his thin body, stinging his flesh with malice.  
  
Olmec fell towards the floor but Jonas caught him, gathering up his light frame with care, just as the first bolt of lightening seared, turning the sky blood red.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Colonel O'Neill ran to the gate room as the klaxons screamed through the SGC. He watched as SG4 and 19 limped back through the gate, relief on their faces to be home. In fact, if he was honest, the relief was shared, there were no losses on either team.  
  
On his way to the canteen he stopped in on Daniel who, was holding his head in his hands, "busy?" He enquired.  
  
Daniel looked at him sharply, "I was just, I was," he then sighed and let the answer evade them both.  
  
"You wanna get something to eat?" O'Neill asked noticing Daniel's jaded appearance.  
  
"No, I'm fine, Jack."  
  
"Daniel," O'Neill stated, "we've hardly seen you for days. You've locked yourself away in here..."  
  
"I know, I know, it's just," Daniel shrugged, "it's just this text the Russian's brought back," he pointed at the sprawl of photographs before him.  
  
O'Neill looked down at them then to the irritated man hovering over them, "and?" he asked.  
  
Daniel sighed pushing his glasses back on his nose before rubbing his forehead; "it's an ancient prayer by the people of 'The Sun Father' to bring back the Gentle Gods. It tells of a fire demon, with blazing eyes enslaving the villages of the lowlands of Mathai."  
  
"Oh, that sounds familiar," Jack said resting on an adjacent desk.  
  
Daniel gave him an acknowledging nod and continued, "The people went to seek help from, from," he searched through the glossy prints, "their Gentle God, Samuel, who had come through the stargate 'many' years ago."  
  
"An ancient?"  
  
"Yeah, well, Samuel, went forth with a great army to destroy the invading demons but was slain by the very first shot of the battle, his body disappearing in a white light."  
  
"He ascended?"  
  
Daniel nodded, "leaving his army to be massacred by the Goa'uld."  
  
"And that's made you.?" Jack questioned.  
  
"Jack, he did nothing. He let the people of Mathai be slaughtered when he had the power to stop it. He didn't have to raise an army he had advance technology on his side but he let those people go against staff weapons with swords and lances.  
  
"We've been searching all this time to find out more about the ancients but the more I find out, the more I'm not sure that they're the good guys. They let the Goa'uld infest hundreds of planets and they did nothing about it."  
  
"They ascended to a higher plane, Daniel."  
  
"Yeah, and all they did was watch."  
  
At that point in their 'discussion' Major Carter came into the room, "Sir, Daniel, we've just had a message from the Tok'ra/free Jaffa base, they're receiving an influx of Nox refugees through some sort of portal and they've asked for our assistance."  
  
=+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 


	2. The Boatman'

Disclaimer still stands, not mine.  
  
Also the lyrics to 'The Boatman' are by the Levellers and do not belong to me either, darn!  
  
Oh, but the following story is all mine.  
  
To sjaraven - a big thank you.  
  
And to BluJay - in Metamorphosis we learnt that Jonas could be a more than he was and I guess that got my little grey cells fired up. In Prophecy his character touched the realms of a Hok Taur and both my stories sort of snowballed from there. The rest is just down to imagination and music.  
  
:o}  
  
======  
  
Jacob and Carter met SG1 and the medical team when they arrived at the other side of the gate. He took his daughter in his arms, after he'd greeted the other members, and gave her a reassuring hug, "they arrived about an hour ago," he said.  
  
"Not through the stargate?" Sam inquired.  
  
"No," her father answered, "an opening appeared filled with light and they just stepped from it. A young woman led them, she's waiting for you," he pointed over to a small canvass structure.  
  
"For us?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"Yes, I gathered you knew her."  
  
"Sir, it could be Lya," Sam stated.  
  
O'Neill nodded and they follow Jacob as he escorted them through the mass of dazed and injured imp like creatures, huddling in groups. Daniel felt his heart swell as he watched them try to heal each other with the light they held in their souls, a light now marred by suffering.  
  
Jacob pulled the tent flap back and ushered them inside, where they found what looked like a Nox female.  
  
She stood up and gazed over the group, smiling with her heart when she saw Dr Fraiser, "mom," she said with sweeping arms.  
  
Janet was taken aback at the braided woman in front of her and her heart leaped, "Cassie," she wavered, tumbling into the welcoming embrace.  
  
They held onto each other for what seemed like a turn of the earth, to scared to let go, it was Sam who broke the reunion up.  
  
"Cassie, is Jonas with you?"  
  
Cassandra released her mother, "Jonas went back for Olmec," she whispered.  
  
"On the Nox home world?" Carter asked.  
  
"No Sam. The Nox were, are, the guardians of the Atarkia portal, where Olmec took us. It is a place of knowledge and understanding," she looked down at her hands, "it was before Ragnarok and Anubis darkened it."  
  
"What happened?" Janet coaxed.  
  
"The Nox were attacked, on their home world, by some sort of primeval creatures that Ragnarok was able to summon. They hunted and slaughtered in fervour for blood; there was no stopping or reasoning with them. Then the Jaffa attacked through the Stargate, forcing what was left of the Nox to open the portal, their only means of escape."  
  
"But the Nox have the ability to conceal themselves." Daniel stated.  
  
Cassie smiled at him but the gesture did not reach her eyes, "yes they do, but these 'hunters' were able to detect them, that's why they were chosen." She looked at O'Neill, "Please, Colonel, Olmec was ailing and Jonas wouldn't leave him, if Anubis..."  
  
Jack looked at Cassandra not wanting to ask the question on his lips, he spoke softly, "Cassie, can you be sure Jonas is still, still alive?"  
  
Cassie produced a smooth looking stone from under her garments and placed it on the table. She then touched it and closed her eyes, it began to glow, "he's still there Colonel; I can feel him. He's weak and tired, they're draining his energy," she looked around the group, "please don't leave him behind."  
  
Jack held up his hand, "okay, I'll go radio the General," then frowning, "how do we get to this, this A, At, Ata place?"  
  
Cassie gave him the stone, "this is the key to get in, I can open it from this end."  
  
O'Neill took it from her, examined it then passed it to Carter, "and to get out?"  
  
Cassie looked down, "Jonas, has the other key."  
  
Jack looked at his team, "okay, I'll go radio the base."  
  
========================  
  
Teal'c was talking with his son Rya'c; pride warming his heart and shining in his gentle brown eyes. He marvelled at how Rya'c had grown in stature and how comfortable they now were in each other's company. They spoke of many things that a father and son might explore together bringing a twined awareness into their hearts.  
  
Bra'tac walked over and exchanged greetings with Teal'c and then the older Jaffa spoke, "Teal'c walk with me."  
  
They dismissed the boy and strolled off to be alone.  
  
Teal'c noticed a change in his mentor, he looked fatigued, aged and the spirit in his eyes had been replaced by a transparent melancholy.  
  
Bra'tac looked into the distance drawing a deep breath before he spoke, "I wish to accompany you on your mission to rescue the Hok Taur, Jonas Quinn."  
  
Teal'c nodded with reverence saying, "I will inform Colonel O'Neill of your request but will you not be missed here?"  
  
Bra'tac let his words fly to the orange of the setting sun, "Teal'c I am a warrior with a warrior's heart."  
  
The dark Jaffa understood his master words; he wanted to prove himself in one more battle.  
  
=========  
  
Ragnarok looked at the frail being fighting for breath on the small cot, "I know he's still here, old man, neither of you had enough strength to send him away. Why do you fight the inevitable? Do you think the longer you exist the longer you can protect the boy from me?"  
  
Olmec said nothing but gave the host a look of contempt; Ragnarok's eyes lit up.  
  
"I could crush you, make your last minutes of life more painful than you have ever known. Keep struggling for your breath, old man, I have all the time in the universe to watch you die."  
  
Anubis twisted Olmec's wrist, skin as delicate as a butterfly's wing, powdered into the air.  
  
===============  
  
Jonas walked through the dense forest, the relentless rain piercing the foliage, biting the exposed flesh on his arms. His path was marred by the broken bodies of woodland creatures that had succumbed to the might of the climate change. Every so often he would come across the brutalized body of a Nox, torn and decaying in this once safe haven. The savagery of their death suspended in a pulsating aura above the corpse, waiting; waiting for him to touch and comprehend, waiting to puncture his soul.  
  
He stumbled in the maggot-ridden mud; everything that was once lush and green was now rancid and decomposing; this place had lost its light, Olmec was dying.  
  
He needed to rest; he was struggling just to stand, to breath. Water ran down him in floods but even that could not wash away the tar like mud that adhered to every inch of his body.  
  
He found shelter in the hollow of a once colossal oak, he knew that he could not delay for long, they would be looking for him but he needed the respite to get his energy back.  
  
He let his mind drift through the fog of fear that was stalking him, trying to find the light of the stars to guide him as Olmec had taught.  
  
A tune floated from his childhood, followed by the memory of words softly spoken, to ward off the anxiety, "I wish I could choose the life I please, but I am not a free man, others rule my destiny, but my will is never broken. I know some day I will be, everything that I dreamed I'd be and when I live the life I please I will be a free man."  
  
He was ten years old again, not far from his father grasp, eating hot oak cakes spread with melting, homemade, butter. The mineworkers had come into the city, from their shantytowns on the outskirts, to spend what little they had on barley ale and to celebrate in the daylight. They sang folk songs, with voices of gravel and dust, spinning and leaping in their hobnail boots while the fiddler played.  
  
The women who accompanied them danced for coins, long, coloured ribbons adorned their bold dresses, blazing through the air like a magical rainbow.  
  
Jonas shut his eyes and let his mind stay in Kelowna; while above, in the skeletal branches, a murder of satisfied crows laughed.  
  
===========  
  
Cassandra raised her hand above the stone, her young forehead creased with concentration. Sam watched as her lips mumbled unspoken words until a gateway of pale ivory turned in front of them. "It is done," she said.  
  
SG1 looked toward Colonel O'Neill for guidance, "that it?" He asked Cassie.  
  
She nodded handing him a roughly drawn map, "okay, troops," Jack added, stepping into the light, "let's go get our boy."  
  
=============  
  
Well that's it for now  
  
Thanks to CT xxx 


	3. There's Nothing But The Rain'

Nope, still don't own anything Stargate, Nor do I own the lyrics below - Avril Lavigne - I'm With You  
  
Thank you, thank you for all your reviews little joyful dance  
  
;O)  
  
There's nothing but the rain  
  
No footsteps on the ground  
  
I'm listening but there's no sound  
  
Isn't anyone trying to find me  
  
Wont somebody come take me home  
=============  
  
O'Neill stepped ankle deep in the viscous soil that contested every foot fall, "I imagined something more, 'Disney'," he said to the others looking around.  
  
"It probably was, once, Jack," Daniel told him, "but now it's dying."  
  
"As is Olmec, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c stated.  
  
"Do you think the two are connected?" Carter asked.  
  
Daniel nodded, "Yeah, Sam, this is, was Olmec's dimension."  
  
"Okay campers let's keep the noise down, we don't want any Jaffa gatecrashers to our little rescue party," O'Neill looked toward Bra'tac and Teal'c, "no offence guys."  
  
"None taken, human," Bra'tac answered.  
  
Their progress was slow, hampered by the appalling weather conditions and malleable dirt. Daniel felt his leg muscles harden with every movement and the icy torrent of falling water scalded his uncovered hands. He started to tumble forward but was caught by Teal'c strong hand, "are you alright Daniel Jackson?"  
  
But Daniel didn't answer. Instead he was staring at a torn and wasted corpse of a young Nox.  
  
Sam touched him gently on the shoulder, "Daniel, we've got to keep moving."  
  
"Yeah," he replied leaving it behind, "what the hell did that?"  
  
"Let's hope we don't find out," Jack said, "be extra vigilant people," he added knowing they wouldn't be able to out run a surprise attack.  
  
Bra'tac, who had scouted up ahead, signalled to them, "a vast structure, guarded by Anubis's Jaffa," he whispered.  
  
Major Carter looked ahead at the once dignified building that was now shattered and derelict. Its design reminded her of an English college, resplendent in a thriving countryside; but not so now, death seemed to be the only thing emanating from it.  
  
They moved closer.  
  
=========  
  
Ragnarok smiled at the body of the old man, there was still a spark left in the violet of his eyes but that was beginning to fade. He held his hands out and beckoned an eddying portal of green mass. When it had gained sufficient magnitude he spoke a strange dialect into its void.  
  
Two shapes emerged from the vortex, almost human from a distance but on closer inspection their form was the only similarity.  
  
Ragnarok brushed the reptilian grey of their skin that held a chameleon like ability to merge into their surroundings. "How do you like my pets," he said to the still figure of Olmec, "have you seen anything more deadly than these Lycaon."  
  
He held up one of their left arms, displaying the five inch serrated claws that extend beyond its fingertips, the Lycaon sniffed the air. "Ah, you can smell death, friend" the host said stroking the creature's baldhead.  
  
Olmec took a deep breath and closed his eyes, the host suspiciously narrowed his, "where are you going, old man," he whispered to himself.  
  
=====  
  
Daniel saw the fissure cut through the air just in front of them, "Jack," he said cautiously.  
  
Teal'c and Bra'tac readied their weapons as Olmec projected himself from within the gap, "go," he said feebly, "the forest, Jonas, there, hurry."  
  
He motioned with his arm toward a bleak wooded area, circled by the blackness of heavy crows. "Can you give us an exact loc."  
  
Olmec's light quivered and dispersed, "...ation?" Jack finished off, "that's a no then, folks," he sighed and headed in the direction Olmec had motioned.  
  
"Okay, let's split up, Daniel you're with me, Teal'c, you and Carter scout to the west, Bra'tac, you, you."  
  
"I will head to the north, O'Neill."  
  
"You head to the north," Jack said pointing, "and remember to keep in radio contact."  
  
===  
  
Ragnarok took a position by the window then looked back at the old man and smiled. "Ah, the famous SG1 are here, good."  
  
He picked up one of Jonas's discarded t-shirts and gave it to the Lycaons who inhaled its aroma before fighting over it like a battle trophy. Ragnarok took one of them sternly by the face, "you can taste but do not bite. I want him 'relatively' unharmed. Do you understand?"  
  
The creatures 'clicked' their comprehension. "Good," he continued, caressing them fondly, "there are others in the woods, humans, Jaffa, you may fill your 'yearnings' with their blood."  
  
Ragnarok's eyes lit up and the creatures cowered, "but first a little snack," Anubis curdled motioning them to Olmec's side.  
  
The old man looked into the cold amber eyes of the Lycaon that was evaluating its prey with predator instincts. It smelt the death on his breath and pushed its lips back in a crude smile; the inhumanity it held on its face was the last thing Olmec saw.  
  
Anubis watched in fascination as the creatures sliced into the frail being to obtain the blood and marrow that his corporeal form held, "you were a fool, old man," he said, "to trap yourself in solid form and for what? A being born out of the darkness of two souls, a marriage of power and greed," he began to laugh, "I will take the day for your boy and feed him on the night of our souls until all our sins break him. Then he will belong to us."  
  
But Olmec was past listening.  
  
====  
  
Jonas felt Olmec's demise as the universe shuddered. He felt the pain of grief crawl, ice cold, inside his stomach and his heart quicken. He opened his eyes to the hastening storm that was flourishing the skies with thorns of lightening and hail. Its intensity was throbbing in his head; the crack of its whip of light feeding the nausea that was fizzling inside of him. He put his palms to his head to relieve the pressure that was building and sensed something in the air.  
  
He crawled out of his hiding place into the anger of the tempest that surrounded him. He put his hand out to catch the falling ice, concentrating, licking the water from his lips, "Jack," he whispered to the wind. They had come for him.  
  
He manipulated his temples to try and gain some control of his abilities but the electricity of the storm and the enclosing darkness was hindering him. Then a pain struck him between the eyes so severe that he fell onto the river of sludge that was once the forest floor.  
  
There was something else, here, looking for him.  
  
He got slowly to his feet, blood dripping from his nose, which he wiped in his muddy t-shirt. This creature knew no mercy delighting in the kill, its only reason for existing; he had to stop it, warn the others.  
  
He moved off north.  
  
=====  
  
TBC 


	4. Myrmidon

As said before, still don't own.  
  
Thanks for taking time out to read and review  
  
Hope you enjoy the next bit.  
  
=====  
  
Daniel and Jack took cover under an outcrop of rocks, "damn," O'Neill said looking out at the violent weather.  
  
He tried the radio for the fourth time but got only static, "damn", he said again.  
  
"Jack, the others would have found some cover, to wait this out, Jonas too," Daniel offered.  
  
"Yeah, I know, it's just I've got this feeling, this bad feeling, that something's out there."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
The Colonel rubbed his head, his eyes alert, keeping watch, "something nasty with teeth," he whispered.  
  
========  
  
Bra'tac had taken cover under a fallen tree but his break from the storm was short lived. A creature bounded out of the foliage in front of him, its murderous intent written passionately on its face. The Jaffa pointed his staff weapon at it and fired. Before the shot could reach its target the creature disappeared from sight. Bra'tac felt growing unease.  
  
He moved cautiously from where he was sheltering, listening against the hail for any other sound. He felt a sudden rush of air as the creature re- appeared and began its attack, cutting through his staff arm with its razor- sharp claws, pushing him to the ground.  
  
He tried to rise quickly but was hampered by the heaviness of the mud, the Lycaon leapt at him, hitting his chest and forcing him back down.  
  
The creature sat on its haunches watching its quarry struggle against the mire while it licked the blood from its claws. It stood up and moved closer, sniffing the air, checking if Bra'tac was safe to kill. The Jaffa, instinctively, pulled out a dagger to prepare himself for the creature's onslaught and they both locked eyes in readiness.  
  
There was a sudden snap of undergrowth and Bra'tac saw another creature hurl itself at his attacker; who was taken completely by surprise. Both fell towards the ground, the Lycaon disappearing before it hit the floor.  
  
Bra'tac scrambled to his feet and awkwardly picked up his staff weapon balancing it on his wounded arm, aiming at the mud-covered form that was trying to stand, "it's still here," it said.  
  
"Jonas Quinn?" Came the Jaffa's astonished response.  
  
"In the..", but before his could finish his statement Jonas was thrown to the ground with incredible force by the re-emerging Lycaon.  
  
Bra'tac opened fire but his blast went through the creature as if he was shooting into water and then, once more, it disappeared.  
  
"Jonas Quinn are you able to walk," the Jaffa said turning in a slow circle with weapon poised.  
  
The Kelownan got to his feet feeling the pain of bruised ribs, "yeah," he winced just as Lycaon's visible hand grabbed at his throat.  
  
Bra'tac kept the creature in his sights as it lifted Jonas from the floor bringing him into eye contact with its tall frame. It sniffed his scent and then licked through a mud-covered cheek to taste flesh. It then clicked in triumph turning its head toward Bra'tac with an evil curl on its lips, showing a huge extent of teeth. It went to bite but the Kelownan had sensed this attempt and was ready. He raised a free hand to the creatures face and let out a small electrical discharge that hit the creature in the eyes.  
  
The Lycaon dropped its prize and Bra'tac fired his weapon again. This time it hit the creature on the shoulder launching it backward with a cry of pain; it then vanished.  
  
The Jaffa kept his guard up as he walked to where Jonas had landed, "it's gone," the Kelownan said taking Bra'tac's arm.  
  
"But it will be back," the older man finished off.  
  
"Yes," and then he added, "there are two."  
  
The Jaffa nodded, "come, we must find shelter and try to contact the others."  
  
"You're hurt," Jonas said noticing the deep cuts on Bra'tac's arm.  
  
The Jaffa smiled, "it is only a graze, boy, it is nothing."  
  
Jonas laid his hand over the wound and seared it closed, "the blood, they can track us," he offered in explanation.  
  
Bra'tac looked at his arm, it wasn't healed completely but the bleeding had stopped. He looked into the young man's tired face and placed his hand on his shoulder in gratitude, Jonas gave him a small smile back.  
  
They followed a stream for a short distance until they came to waterfall. Behind the surge of water was a small cave that they took refuge in from the weather.  
  
Bra'tac pulled out a silver blanket from the pack that O'Neill had given him and gave it to the Kelownan. "We will not be able to light a fire for fear of detection", he remarked.  
  
Jonas nodded and rested against the rough stonewall of the cavern. Bra'tac saw the severe bruising on the young man's neck, left by the grip of the creature and also notice the way he held his left side.  
  
"Are you hurt, Jonas Quinn?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, but, hey, luckily my Goa'uld genes will have that licked in no time," he smiled, closing his eyes.  
  
"Then we are indeed lucky, as you have the key to get us all home," the Jaffa answered, feeling the damp creep into his bones like age.  
  
He stood up, extending his muscles and thought about the creature, its strength, its skill, the contempt it had shown for him in its eyes. How would he have faired, he wondered, against such an assailant?  
  
Jonas opened his eyes and gazed at him with deep green irises, "you came here looking for death," he whispered without judgement.  
  
Bra'tac lowered his eyes and felt the truth on his lips, "yes," he replied clearing his soul, "without my symbiote I do not feel whole; I am old and without purpose."  
  
Jonas thought through his pain and then began, "there is a lot more you can give than your life. You've lived a long time, gained great knowledge."  
  
"But I am a warrior, Jonas Quinn."  
  
"And there are many fields of battle to fight on. To give your life up cheaply would be a victory for everything you have fought against. Age comes to us all, Master Bra'tac, you cannot fight it, you must embrace it. For with age comes the wisdom of life, a wisdom to be passed on to others so they can make old bones."  
  
Jonas laughed and shook his head, "two months with Olmec and I'm beginning to sound like him," he flashed a smile at Bra'tac who nodded back.  
  
"I will try the radio again," the Jaffa stated but like O'Neill he just got static.  
  
The Kelownan began to rub his temples feeling the intense pressure from the thunderstorm stretching in his mind.  
  
Bra'tac watched the young man closely as his posture stiffened and his eyes locked on something unseen.  
  
Something ran through Jonas's mind, something rotten and evil; he began to convulse. "They hunt as a pair but not together. It's, it's a contest, the kill an amusement, a sport, a game between the two. The stronger its prey, the more power in the, the blood, the marrow. Its mind is so callous, cold, ruthless, it, it lives only for the kill."  
  
The Jaffa, ever alert, went to the entrance of the cave and saw the two Lycaon searching the woodland around the waterfall. They were safe for now, the rush of the water shielding them from the creature's senses. He turned his attention back to Jonas, putting his arm around the Kelownan's trembling body to try and ease his anguish.  
The young man fell into a deep sleep, safely guarded by the old Jaffa whose destiny was now established.  
===========  
  
TBC.. 


	5. Hungry Like The Wolf

Hello again,  
  
Well here's the next chapter, bit of action in this one.  
  
Disclaimer - Only the story's mine  
  
=========  
  
"Jack," Daniel called trying to keep pace with the Colonel, "I thought we were going to wait out the storm, you know, in the dry place."  
  
"Yeah, I know Daniel, it's just that I've got."  
  
"'This feeling'", he remarked having heard no other explanation for leaving their relatively sheltered outcrop of rock.  
  
O'Neill held up his hand, Daniel stopped, raising his P-90 in the direction of the noise, feeling the tension rising within him.  
  
Teal'c and Carter stepped out in front of them, Daniel noticed how 'dry' Sam looked but her face held the same bewildered appearance as his.  
  
The Colonel spoke to the Jaffa, "You too?"  
  
"Yes," came the reply.  
  
"A bad feeling with teeth?" Jack asked.  
  
"And claws, O'Neill."  
  
"Right," Jack looked at Daniel with a 'see I told you so' expression, "see, Daniel, I told you so," he reiterated.  
  
Dr Jackson looked at Sam and shrugged, "Sir, maybe this 'sensation' you are experiencing is Jonas's doing, maybe he's trying to warn us of something," she stated.  
  
Jack turned to face Sam, "what, Carter, you mean he's in my head?" He replied looking doubtful and pointing to his temple for emphasis.  
  
"Yes sir, if you and Teal'c are experiencing the same feeling."  
  
Jack looked at the Jaffa and then back to Sam, "why me, why not you or Daniel?"  
  
"Maybe your mind is easier to access," Daniel said too quickly, then realising how that sounded, "um, maybe we should get to wherever it is we are going?"  
  
"Indeed," Teal'c said with a pronounced eyebrow movement and led the way.  
  
Jack looked toward Carter for her contribution but wisely she remained silent.  
  
They reached the waterfall not long after, "oh great," Jack said in Sam's direction; "Jonas has led us to more water."  
  
"O'Neill," Teal'c said as Master Bra'tac approached them.  
  
"Come," the old man said, "we must take shelter behind the waterfall, there are creatures hunting in the forest."  
  
"With teeth and claws," Jack stressed with fingers curled.  
  
"Yes O'Neill, have you seen them?"  
  
"No, but apparently Jonas has and put them in my head."  
  
"Ah," the older Jaffa replied in understanding, "Jonas Quinn is resting in the cave."  
  
"You found him?" The Colonel asked.  
  
Bra'tac smiled, "no O'Neill, he found me."  
  
As they walked to the cave entrance Bra'tac told them about the Lycaon attack, "well, the sooner we get out of here the better," Jack stated.  
  
====  
  
Sam looked down at the sleeping form, covered in dark grey mud, and smiled; she had missed him. When Daniel had returned to the SGC a big piece of her heart had been put back and she had felt whole again. She had watched Jonas take a step back, into the shadows, to allow Daniel space to breath but Daniel had taken this bright young man under his wing and she had enjoyed watching them bounce ideas and theories around like tennis balls; both men eager to prove themselves.  
  
Daniel had changed, grown more, but he had lost some of his idealism along the way. Jonas had redressed that balance, within their group, with his energy and enthusiasm, wanting so much to belong. Yeah, she had missed him and she knew, deep down, she was not alone in that.  
  
"Well, Carter, let's wake him up and get outta here."  
  
"Yes sir," Sam replied.  
  
"No," Bra'tac stepped between them and the Kelownan, "he must rest."  
  
Teal'c noticed a fire and drive return to his mentor's eyes and he smiled with a slight bow of his head.  
  
"Master Bra'tac." Jack began.  
  
"It's okay," came a familiar voice and a rustle of blanket, "couldn't sleep with all the noise."  
  
"Hey Jonas," Sam smiled.  
  
"Sam," he replied and gave her a warm hug.  
  
"Jonas, is that you under all that mud? Great camouflage, no wonder we had trouble finding you."  
  
"Colonel," the Kelownan replied with a raise of his hand, "Dr Jackson, Teal'c."  
  
"Okay, introductions over, let's open up that portal and get somewhere DRY," came Jack's response.  
  
But Jonas wasn't listening, his mind was elsewhere, "one of you is bleeding."  
  
Daniel held up his palm, showing a jagged cut, "It's just a graze really, I did it back at."  
  
"They're coming," was all he said but it was enough.  
  
Bra'tac pulled Jonas by his t-shirt and headed for the entrance, "we must get out into the open," he said to the others, who swiftly followed him.  
  
The Lycaons were almost upon them, vanishing promptly when they exited the cave.  
  
"Okay," O'Neill said looking around, "Jonas, this would be a good time to open up that portal."  
  
The Kelownan nodded and pulled out a smooth stone; similar to the one Cassie had used, and placed it on the floor. Bra'tac took up a position in front of him to ward off any attack, while the others set up a nervous perimeter.  
  
The forest was silent except for the rain pounding the mud, "Teal'c?" Jack whispered.  
  
"I see nothing O'Neill."  
  
Sam felt the brunt of the first attack as a creature appeared behind her slashing at her back with delight. Its claws cut through her vest and uniform into her flesh, driving her to her knees.  
  
Jack let off a round in the creature's direction but it went straight through it, disappearing before finishing its attack.  
  
"Carter!" O'Neill yelled.  
  
"I'm okay, sir," she said getting gingerly to her feet while Teal'c guarded her position.  
  
Daniel heard a loud clicking sound coming from his left and began firing in the same direction. The other creature attacked him from the right, swiping greedily at his arm and then moved in for the kill. Teal'c ran to defend Daniel, knocking the creature with his staff weapon, the blow connected with its upper body. It turned toward the dark Jaffa, narrowing its eyes then disappeared.  
  
Jack looked toward Jonas, "how we doing with that doorway?"  
  
He saw a blue light beginning emanate from the stone, "nearly there, sir," came the reply and then Jonas turned and said, "Anubis!"  
  
Jack saw what the Kelownan had noticed, a gap opening to the right of him and what looked like a Jaffa encased in it, "oh, crap," he said firing.  
  
Bra'tac aimed his staff weapon at the other portal and let off a shot, the breach imploded and then began growing again.  
  
"Step back," Jonas said to the older Jaffa and pushed a continual ivory light from his palm, which connected with Anubis's window, stopping it from opening fully.  
  
Then, with the other hand he manipulated the blue light until it was large enough to form a doorway, "okay," he shouted at the others.  
  
Daniel helped Sam with his good arm while Jack and Teal'c watched for further attack; they didn't have long to wait.  
  
Both creatures appeared in front of them blocking their exit to the portal. One of them rounded on Teal'c, slashing at his abdomen, while the other stalked Jack, assessing him as the dominant male with one evil smile; SG-1 backed away.  
  
"Can't you guys give us a break?" O'Neill asked readying his weapon.  
  
Bra'tac looked back at Jonas and saw that he was struggling to keep the two windows balanced, and then he remembered what Jonas had said, in the cave, when the Lycaons were inside of him. He dropped his staff weapon and threw himself at the creature that had Jack in its sights.  
  
The Lycaon had dismissed the older Jaffa and with its attention focused on Jack it reacted too late to Bra'tac's assault; they both fell to the floor. Bra'tac took his thin dagger from its hiding place and stabbed the creature, hard, in the stomach, penetrating its thick hide. A syrupy dark liquid oozed from within the injured Lycaon, it tried to vanish but was unable to. With incredible speed the other creature left Teal'c and fell upon its companion devouring its 'power' in a frenzy of teeth and claws.  
  
Bra'tac looked at O'Neill, who nodded then motioned the others through the portal while he watched their backs.  
  
Master Bra'tac picked up his discarded staff and waited by his young charge until O'Neill was safely through.  
  
Jonas let go of Anubis's portal and Bra'tac let off several shots at the widening gap, then they turned, Jonas picked up the stone and stepped through the blue light, which closed, abruptly, behind them.  
  
=====  
  
TBC.. With a kiss 


	6. Eternal Flame

Hi, I'm back...  
  
Been away to rugged coasts and sandy beaches. Where hats and woollies and surfboards seem strangely compatible.  
  
Anyway long chapter, sorry.  
  
Say my name. The sun shines through the rain.  
  
A whole life so lonely.  
  
And then you come and ease the pain.  
  
I don't want to loose this feeling.  
  
Eternal Flame by the Bangles  
  
Only this story belongs to me, nowt else.  
  
======  
  
"Lucy, we're home," Jack said to the gathering crowd of Jaffa, Tok'ra and Nox.  
  
Cassie ran to him, one word on her lips, "Jonas?"  
  
O'Neill turned to the dimensional rip just as the Kelownan stepped through with Master Bra'tac following; Cassie went to him and took his hands, concern showing on her face as she noticed the marks around his neck. Jonas hugged her and kissed the top of her head, "help the others," he said with a smile.  
  
She nodded and went to assist her mother who was tending the injured team members.  
  
Jack's attention was drawn, again, to the crowd. Several Jaffa and Tok'ra had gone down on one knee, while others in the group bowed their heads in reverence, "hey, it's only us guys, SG-1, remember?"  
  
"I do not believe it is for you O'Neill," Bra'tac said directing his head toward Jonas.  
  
Jack turned to the young man whose face held a look of nervous dismay at the regard being shown him, "Jonas?" Jack said to no one in particular.  
  
When Jacob was satisfied that Sam's injures were treatable he went to Jonas, lowering his eyes as he spoke, "Jonas is there anything I can do for you?" Selmak said from within him.  
  
"Yeah, look me in the eyes," the Kelownan responded slightly embarrassed.  
  
"Of course," Jacob/Selmak obliged, "It's just, now, with Olmec gone."  
  
"Whoa, wait a minute," Jack said, taking off his pack, "how did you know about Olmec?"  
  
"Cassandra felt his demise and the balance pass to Jonas," Jacob answered.  
  
The Colonel looked puzzled, "the what?"  
  
Cassie, who was healing Daniel's arm, answered, "Olmec was the light, the balance in the universe."  
  
"He wasn't an Ancient?" Daniel winced.  
  
"No," Cassie stated as her palm moved once more over the deep wound, "he was an entity born of the universe to keep the balance between the light and the darkness."  
  
"And 'this' has been passed to Jonas, our Jonas?" O'Neill asked watching the Kelownan who was talking with several awed Nox children.  
  
"Yes, he is now the guardian," Cassie replied.  
  
Jack looked a Daniel with raised eyebrows, "well I don't know about you but I'm gonna to sleep sounder tonight knowing the universe is in Jonas's hands."  
  
Daniel smiled back, "thing is, Jack, I think it's in all our hands."  
  
======  
  
Jack left Teal'c and Sam in the Tok'ra infirmary under Janet and Cassie's care and went to speak to Jonas. Bra'tac, ever watchful, was guarding the young man's door and Jack smiled to himself. Both Malek and Selmak had tried to persuade Jonas to have a younger 'bodyguard', which the Kelownan had politely refused.  
  
Jonas had cleaned up and was reading some material Daniel had left him when Jack entered. The younger man stood anxiously to his feet knocking the papers flying, "Colonel," he coughed.  
  
"Jonas," Jack replied, "I've just spoken with General Hammond, we're not leaving until tomorrow, their running a full gate diagnostic back at the SGC."  
  
"Oh," came a small voice back.  
  
O'Neill looked confused, Jonas enlighten him, "I was looking forward to going back ho." He stopped himself, "to earth."  
  
He crouched down to rescue a couple of A4 sheets and said, "Sir, do you think General Hammond will let me stay at the SGC, once the text has been translated? It's just that you, you may need help in locating the city and I believe I've worked well with Dr Jackson before."  
  
Jack signed, "Jonas, we've been through all this before, you'll be safer, here, with the Tok'ra, especially now you've got this, this Olmec stuff going on; I bet Anubis and his host are busting a gut trying to find you. We just can't guarantee your safety on earth."  
  
"So you want me to go back with you, translate the stone tablet and then come back here?"  
  
It sounded cold, "maybe when all this is over." Jack began.  
  
"We could go fishing?" Jonas finished, getting up without looking the Colonel in the eye.  
  
Jack felt a prang on guilt squeeze inside of him and changed the subject, "so, this Olmec deal, any special spider senses?"  
  
Jonas scratched the back of his head and smiled, "In a way," he said turning to a small window and placing his hand on the icy glass, "I can feel the eternal flame of the universe."  
  
What else could he tell him? That he suffered the tears of those lost and adrift, sensed the dry words of conscience whispered by dying tongues, touched the twin hearts of love and faith and listened to a universe of casual laughter caught on the wind like a kite? Jonas saw nightmares and shadows, hopes and dreams and could do nothing but experience their joining.  
  
Jack moved closer and observed a blaze of gold streak across the Kelownan's eyes like stars in the night sky; he then noticed the bruising on his neck, "have you seen Doc Fraiser about this?"  
  
Jonas blushed slightly, "no, sir, I thought it might have healed by now."  
  
"Yeah, well, I still want you to get yourself checked out."  
  
"With Dr Fraiser?"  
  
Jack smiled, "yes, Jonas, with Doc Fraiser, is there a problem?"  
  
The young man blushed some more, "no sir, no problem."  
  
"Good," O'Neill replied watching Jonas leave for the infirmary.  
  
He then looked down at the disarray of papers obscuring the room and absent- mindedly shuffled them into some order. He smiled as he picked up an early Bowie CD from the core along with Jonas's richly inscribed notebook and a worn visitors guide to Pike's Peak. He smoothed the guide out and placed it inside the cover of the book, maybe he would have a word with Hammond about Jonas's stay.  
  
====  
  
Jonas watched from a distance as Janet and Daniel chatted casually in the infirmary. He observed her skilfully re-apply a bandage to Dr Jackson's arm while laughing at some story he was telling.  
  
Jonas thought about leaving when Sam caught his eye, "come to visit the injured," she joked.  
  
"Um, yes, I mean no, the Colonel wanted me to get checked out."  
  
She followed Jonas's gaze, feeling something tear inside her as she watched Daniel grin in Janet's direction, "Dr Fraiser seems busy," the young man stated breaking Sam's concentration.  
  
"She's only seeing to Daniel's bandage, I'm sure she won't be long."  
  
Janet looked up and saw the Kelownan, she bestowed him with an enchanting smile and walked over, "Jonas," she said and gave him an affectionate hug.  
  
He flinched slightly during her embrace and Janet pulled away, "you're hurt?" She said softly.  
  
"Yes," he replied meekly.  
  
Janet smiled and lay a petite hand on his arm, "come over to the examination room and let me have a look," and she led him to a blank cubical.  
  
He removed his t-shirt and lay back on the exam table as she started to gently press her hands along his ribs. Her touch was patient and soft, waiting for him to relax when she located a point of tenderness. He watched her work, wanting to say the hundred and one things that were surfacing and spinning in his head but the words just seemed to crash on his lips without a sound.  
  
He sat up so she could examine the contusions smeared around his neck. He tried to focus on something other than the delicate rhythm of her breathing melting into his skin but he found it impossible; he stood up abruptly.  
  
"Jonas?" Janet cried, not finished with her examination but he looked away.  
  
She placed an urgent hand on his shoulder, a plea for him to look at her. He turned and their eyes locked. There was a moment, he could feel it, time was waiting on a hesitant drip from a tap and his mind and heart conflicted. He bent down and tenderly brushed his lips against hers as the fire in his heart won.  
  
He pulled away, "I'm, I'm sorry," he said cracking the silence.  
  
Janet held onto his arm to stop him from leaving, "Jonas," she began keeping her voice composed, "I."  
  
He turned to face her again and she saw how lonely, how vulnerable, how scared he really was. Had anyone else noticed?  
  
She touched his face, emotion clouding her judgement she drew him into an open kiss. Jonas trembled slightly as he carefully put his arms around her small frame bringing her closer. Janet fell into his embrace but somewhere, inside of her, a rational voice cried, no!  
  
There was a knock at the door shattering the moment like a raindrop hitting the ground; they pulled apart.  
  
He looked at her, his eyes intense and hopeful, his heart bursting. He reached out to stroke her cheek but she turned away from him and answered the door; a splinter caught in his heart.  
  
Janet took some paperwork that a heavyset nurse had brought for her to sign, "Jonas, I want you to rest up, until we get back to the SGC," she said not looking up from the pen scraping at the paper.  
  
Jonas picked up his discarded t-shirt as if it weighed more than he could carry and nodded.  
  
Janet handed the reports back to the curious nurse, whose eyes darted from Doctor to patient, until Janet closed the door on her.  
  
"Jonas," she began trying to sound rational, "I'm sorry, I should never."  
  
He gave her a bright smile that had no truth in it, "hey, Doc, it's okay, I should never of put you in that position," he said the words crumpling inside of him.  
  
There was an awkward silence before Jonas walked towards the door. Janet smiled at him, touching his hand, "friends, right?" she said.  
  
"Yeah, always," he replied too quickly.  
  
======  
  
Sam watched Janet as she changed Teal'c's dressing, her normal practiced hands seemed anxious and her eyes betrayed a faint regret. She spoke a few professional words to the Jaffa while checking his blood pressure and then let him rest.  
  
Sam looked up at her friend as she passed, "how's he doing?" She enquired.  
  
Janet gave her a tired smile, "fine, Cassie healed most of the damage, he'll be sore for a few days and we'll have to watch for infection but he'll be back to his old Jaffa self in no time."  
  
Sam gave her a quick smile that was not reciprocated, "Janet what's wrong?"  
  
Janet slumped into the uncomfortable bedside chair and let her head rest in her hands while she, hesitantly, told Sam what had happen between herself and Jonas.  
  
"I'm not proud of myself Sam," she finished off with, "I kissed him for all the wrong reasons and he knew, I saw it in his eyes, even before I tried to explain, he'd distanced himself."  
  
Sam took Janet's hand, "Jonas's will be okay," she said but the words seemed hollow.  
  
"I don't know, Sam, if you could've seen him, he looked so lonely, so young, so desperate for something I couldn't give him. I think he wants, needs something other than friendship."  
  
"You mean love?"  
  
The Doctor shrugged, "that and some sort of guidance. He has no family here and we're his only friends, he has nobody else to help him go through this 'change'. He tried to reach out to me and I made a complete mess of it."  
  
Janet tore her fingers through her hair causing it to spit copper under the light.  
  
"You're being too hard on yourself," Sam said softly, "I guess we all assumed he was coping with this 'balance' thing."  
  
Janet sighed, "Well I don't think he is," then she looked at Sam and gave her a small smile, "I'm going to get some air."  
  
Sam gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and let her go.  
  
======  
  
Jonas gazed at the strange moon drifting in the battered sky. A crisp wind was chasing raggedy clouds across its honeyed glow like a ghostly parade of beggars. Their music was the low shrill of a purple night lizard and the faint mumble of lonely insects in search of a mate. Everything here was unfamiliar to him yet this was to be his new home.  
  
He rubbed his fingers into his scalp trying to block out the universal mummers that were eating away at his thoughts. It was an uneasy night, something was out there, coiled and ready to strike.  
  
He watched Janet walk out into the night pulling her jacket around her more for comfort than to block out the sharp breeze that was testing her resolve. He traced her outline with his finger on the window leaving nothing but a smear as she vanished into the darkness.  
  
Something crept along his spine, seeping into his mind like oil trapped in a puddle. He closed his eyes and for a moment heard only the echo of his own heartbeat; then the universe struck him, throwing him to the floor.  
  
Jack and Daniel, on hearing Bra'tac's calls for assistance, ran to the room Jonas was occupying. They found the Jaffa trying to calm the Kelownan who was lying on the floor in the throes of a fit. Jack watched as the young man twisted violently in Bra'tac's grasp, his eyes pushed back in their sockets and blood from his nose soaking the material of his shirt.  
  
Daniel turned, to get Dr Frasier, but was met by Cassandra who flew passed him into the room. Bra'tac relinquished Jonas into her care and she placed a soothing palm on his forehead; the effect was immediate. Jonas's body became calm, except for the odd twitch and rapid breathing, "shouldn't we get him to the infirmary?" Jack enquired.  
  
"Not yet, the universe is speaking," Cassie replied gently as the Kelownan began to mutter a mixture of words that meant nothing to O'Neill.  
  
"Right," Jack said, looking around to see if anyone else had found that remark a bit 'strange'.  
  
Daniel moved closer, intrigued, "Daniel?" Jack asked.  
  
He held his hand up, his face deep in concentration, listening, "it's a prayer!" He exclaimed after a while.  
  
"A what?" Jack asked somewhat bemused.  
  
"A, a prayer, to Balder, son of Odin, to protect, him, um, them from the demons of Hell."  
  
Jack looked down at Jonas, whose eyes were open and white, "his head isn't gonna start spinning, now, is it?" He asked Cassie.  
  
She looked at Jack and smiled shaking her head, "good," O'Neill said somewhat relieved.  
  
Jonas's breathing quickened and his body started to shake, he began to recite the prayer, once more, but this time the voice was not his own. The words seemed to multiply around the room with increasing clarity, as if they were being whispered by many different voices pleading on their knees for assurance. Jonas arched his back and took a lungful of air, breathing the voices back in until there was silence.  
  
Daniel looked at Jack and then at Cassie who had started to shiver. He went over to put his jacket around her shoulders but before he could reach her Jonas's body began to flip fiercely against the floor, pushing Cassandra from him.  
  
The room then filled with what seemed to be a thousand chaotic voices crashing against the walls in terror and death, causing Jack put his hands over his ears to drown out their sound. "Can't you stop this?" he yelled toward Cassie.  
  
"No," she shouted back as the noise expanded and surged through Jack's eardrums until it reached a screaming crescendo and fell back into Jonas.  
  
Jack had, had enough; with his ears still ringing he knelt down by the Kelownan and forced his hands down on the trembling man's shoulders.  
  
"Jonas can you hear me?" He said strongly. "You have to snap out of this, that's an order."  
  
The Kelownan began to struggle against the Colonel's grip and cough up blood, "damn it Jonas, you have to fight this," Jack looked at Cassie, "I thought Olmec was meant to make you guys stronger?"  
  
"He did but this, this is beyond Jonas, this is Olmec's 'knowledge'. It had to be transferred, to stop Ragnarok from using it."  
  
"But it's killing him," Jack stated feeling Jonas, finally, relax under his grip.  
  
O'Neill looked down at the young man who was staring at something he could not see.  
  
"Ragnarok," Cassie whispered sensing where Jonas was.  
  
Instinctively Bra'tac raised his staff weapon and Jack saw the Kelownan's face become composed and almost serene.  
  
Jonas looked around him but saw only the inside of a Goa'uld mothership and the hooded figure of Ragnarok.  
  
"You don't look well son," came the scornful voice, "the old man's powers are too much for you, they were never meant to be housed in such a frail being as yourself."  
  
Jonas looked out into space at the debris turning around the elegant green planet in the distance, "why?" He asked trying to understand the emptiness he was feeling, "why did you attack those who could not fight back?"  
  
"Are you that naïve, boy? Do you think I care if the beings on the planet lived or died? This wasn't an attack against them, this was a blow to weaken the Asgard. This world was under their protector-ship, that flotsam caught in our wake is the remains of the ships they sent to defend the simple people below," he laughed, "and I will attack again and again until all my enemies are crushed."  
  
"How do you know that this will not strengthen them? For every blow you deal is redressed elsewhere," Jonas replied knowingly.  
  
"Are you trying to scare me? You do not possess the capability to prophesise the future's will. The universe possesses no such power it just binds us all together, we are its will, we are the light or dark of its stars just as we choose our own intent."  
  
The host bowed his head and let Anubis speak, "You think your pallid light will shade our darkness? You do not know its strength," and then added with malice, "but you will."  
  
"That maybe so," Jonas said turning to face the figure, " but beware the darkness inside of you, sooner or later a reckoning will be required."  
  
Incensed, Anubis struck Jonas with a blinding explosion that went straight through the Kelownan sending him spiralling back into his body.  
  
He opened his eyes and saw the blurred face of Colonel O'Neill. He then rubbed them to make them focus and sat up, "Colonel," he said with a voice of sandpaper.  
  
Jack helped him to a metal chair and Daniel offered him a glass of water that he took gratefully, tasting blood as he swallowed.  
  
"Cassie, Bra'tac can you give us a moment here," Jack said not looking away from Jonas's exhausted face.  
  
Cassie looked toward the Kelownan, I'm fine, honest, he told her without speaking but she knew this was not true.  
  
She smiled, yeah sure, don't be such a hero, I can feel your hurt. Tell someone Jonas, tell them how you really feel, don't keep this inside, she 'said' and left the room.  
  
"Jonas, what the hell just happened?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"Anubis has attacked Urdar, a planet under the protection of the Asgards."  
  
"With the Eye of Ra?" Daniel needed to know.  
  
"No, the planet's still there. He sent his Jaffa to the surface to, to control its people," he looked up at Daniel, "he, he used the Eye on the vessels the Asgard sent to defend Urdar, they were all destroyed."  
  
Daniel turned away, guilt eating away at him, "Daniel, this isn't your fault," O'Neill said.  
  
"Jack, if I hadn't of given him the last." But before he could finish Jonas started to cough, once more, bringing up mass of spent blood.  
  
"Daniel go get Doc Fraiser, now." Jack instructed.  
  
"No!" Jonas cried holding onto Dr Jackson's arm, "it'll pass, sir, I just need to rest."  
  
The young man tried to stand but his legs buckled under him. Jack and Daniel caught him before he hit the floor. "For God's sake, Jonas, this is killing you, why the hell did Olmec do this? I thought he was one of the good guys?"  
  
"He was," Jonas replied his voice starting to rise, "he had no choice!"  
  
"Hell he did," O'Neill replied, irritated, then, "Daniel escort Jonas to the infirmary and get Doc Fraiser to check him out."  
  
Jonas went to protest, "And if he refuses," Jack continued, "get Master Bra'tac to drag him there."  
  
====  
  
Sam had changed back into her uniform and was sat by Jonas's bedside. Both Janet and the Tok'ra had run extensive tests on their unwilling patient and could find nothing physically wrong with him; he had lapsed into unconsciousness soon after. Janet had kept a vigil at his bedside for most of the night until Sam had persuaded her to get some rest, promising to call her when he wakes.  
  
She watched his eyes move under their lids as he searched for something in his sleep, "Mia," he cried pitifully and became restless.  
  
Sam pulled the covers back over his trembling form and smoothed the spikes of his hair, quietening him for a moment.  
  
"I'm sorry," he whispered to the pillow, "please don't go."  
  
"I won't," Sam answered, knowing he was not talking to her but to a dream.  
  
She knew nothing of Jonas before the SGC but something from his past was haunting him.  
  
"Hey, Carter," O'Neill whispered from behind her.  
  
"Sir," she replied getting to her feet.  
  
"How's sleeping beauty doing?"  
  
"Resting."  
  
"Oh," Jack looked over at the Kelownan as if he was peeking at a sleeping infant, "and you, Carter, shouldn't you be getting some shut eye?"  
  
"I'm fine, sir, I feel like I've slept for days."  
  
Jack looked at her fatigued face and knew she was being economical with the truth, "Yeah, well, that maybe so but no one's told the rest of you."  
  
She sighed and went back to stroking Jonas's forehead, "I don't want Jonas to wake up alone."  
  
"He's a big boy now, Carter."  
  
"I know I just want him to know that we're here for him."  
  
Jack looked at them both, Jeez he was going soft, "okay, I'll baby-sit junior for a while."  
  
Sam was caught off guard, "sir?"  
  
"Can't sleep anyway, it's a Tok'ra thing, you know, you go to sleep alone, wake up with a new, best buddy inside of you, sort'a creeps me out."  
  
"Sir, the Tok'ra."  
  
"Yeah, I know, now scat before I change my mind."  
  
"I'll only be in the next room sir."  
  
"Understood," he replied taking the seat Carter had occupied.  
  
Jack checked his watch and then rocked back on the chair trying to gain a comfortable position as it groaned beneath him. He rubbed his hand across the stubble on his chin and studied the Tok'ra room his attention drifting, "Mia," Jonas said with urgency.  
  
Jack was drawn once more to the figure wrestling with his subconscious on the bed and wondered if he should call Sam back.  
  
An effervescence orb of light threw itself from the Kelownan and hovered by the end of the bed. Jack watched as the light took the form of a young girl, her face as pale as a frosted window and her hair a bunched mass of white, blonde curls. The girl's blank eyes held no colour and her dress was muted and torn and tied on her wrist was a green balloon with a gold dragon emblazoned on it.  
  
She just stood staring down at Jonas and spoke in a mean little voice that echoed from within her, "you were meant to look after me."  
  
"You, you ran off to get the balloon," Jonas replied from his sleep.  
  
"You let the man take me."  
  
"I tried to stop him, he hit me."  
  
"He 'hurt' me," she cried holding out her colourless arms.  
  
"I know," whispered Jonas's small voice, "it, it should have been me."  
  
"It's never you, though, is it Jonas? It's always someone else dying in your place, sacrificing themselves so you can live and for what? So you can save the universe. You couldn't even save me. I waited for you in the dark, where the mean man put me, you know how scared I was of the dark? I called out for you to come find me but you never came: you let me die. How many more people are you going to let die, Jonas, how many more?"  
  
The girl started to fade until she became nothing but light which plunged fiercely back into Jonas. The Kelownan sat up with a jolt and opened his eyes surveying the room, "Colonel," he said, surprised on seeing O'Neill there.  
  
"Bad dream?" Jack probed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess," Jonas answered giving nothing away.  
  
Jack tried the more direct approach, "who's Mia?"  
  
"Mia?" Jonas said, startled.  
  
"Yeah, you said that name a few times in your sleep."  
  
Jonas looked at O'Neill trying to gauge how much he knew then shook his head a little too convincingly, "I don't know a Mia, sir," he said but Jack saw the truth in his eyes.  
  
He decided to let it rest for now.  
  
========  
  
Still more to come, if you're not bored already.  
  
See ya.  
  
:0) 


	7. The Mummy It Comes To Life'

Hi all, the disclaimer is still the same, not mine only the story.  
  
No cash either.  
  
I would like to thank you all for your reviews. There is such a magnificent array of talent out there that it's inspiring that people take the time and effort to give me feedback.  
  
So, thank you all from the bottom of my heart x  
  
:o}  
  
Do your nightmares tear you apart? Do you wake up screaming, Shouting in the dark? Do the demons keep you awake? Does the clock tick more slowly With every breath you take.  
  
The Fear - Levellers  
  
========  
  
Jacob hugged his daughter tenderly wanting to hang on to her for as long as was possible. Jack was growing a little impatient waiting for Jonas to join them by the Tok'ra stargate. He looked down at his watch then over to Cassie, "go and see what's taking his lordship so long."  
  
Cassie rolled her eyes at the Colonel just as Jonas and Bra'tac started to walk across the compound toward them. The Kelownan was still arranging the items in his pack, "at last," Jack cried with relief.  
  
Daniel smiled, glad that, for once, it was not he holding up their departure and getting Jack's hard stare.  
  
"Sorry," Jonas said giving them an impish smile, "I..."  
  
He then stopped and looked up at the sky, Cassie followed suit.  
  
"Oh no, not again!" Jack groaned just as a brilliant light hit the ground before them. Teal'c and Bra'tac were steadying their weapons as a small grey being emerge from its centre.  
  
"Thor, old buddy, how goes it?" Jack said with a mock salute.  
  
"Not well, O'Neill, one of our planets has been attacked and we have lost many good people."  
  
"Urdar?" Jack replied.  
  
"Yes, O'Neill," Thor said with a bow of his head.  
  
Jonas moved closer to the alien his eyes reading something that was hidden in Thor, "they've offered you some sort of deal, haven't they?"  
  
Jack looked to Jonas and then to Thor for his refusal, "yes," the grey being said sadly.  
  
"What?" O'Neill yelled, "but your not taking it seriously, are you?"  
  
"O'Neill my people are dying, Anubis has offered us advance cloning technology if we sign a non aggression packed with him. This technology would help save my people."  
  
"And you are considering this?" Said a very exasperated Jack.  
  
"You must understand, we have little choice, he is destroying most of our allies and with Olmec gone."  
  
"But we have a new and improved Olmec right here," O'Neill said rubbing Jonas's shoulders.  
  
"He is young and untested. My people are unwilling to risk their future on such a being."  
  
The Kelownan narrowed his eyes sensing something, "this is not the view of you all. Anubis has split you just as he has done on a higher level with the ascended, it would be far easier for him if brother destroyed brother."  
  
"This is true, not all of us feel that we can trust the Goa'uld but we are not as strong as we once were."  
  
Jonas began to breathe deeply closing his eyes, when he opened them to look at Thor they were covered in stars.  
  
"Aligning yourselves with Anubis is a false hope. He cannot help you prevent the inevitable. Our time seems short, when we are upon the horizon of life, and to want to extent our journey, for one more sunset, is only natural. I can only tell you this; if you give away your torch when the sun is gone and only the darkness remains you will have no light to guide you: and the night will seem an eternity."  
  
Jack made a soft groaning noise and went to say something but Daniel stopped him.  
  
"My people only wish to survive," Thor answered intrigued.  
  
"There are many different levels of existence, as you well know. Your decision will affect many worlds, some of which are only just beginning to walk. These people here know their own mortality yet they would rather die free men than spend a lifetime upon their knees. You think that Anubis has weakened you? Then you do not know your own strength for one man fighting for freedom is worth a dozen bonded Jaffa."  
  
Jonas smiled and held his palm out to Thor, "let me give you what I feel if my words are not enough to sway you."  
  
Thor held up a thin, grey hand and coupled it with the Kelownan's. A soft blue light emanated through Jonas turning him almost translucent with the exception of the universe surging in his eyes. Thor seemed transfixed, by the movement of stars, as the glow encircled his form like a comet of enlightenment. He nodded his large grey head, and Jonas removed his palm taking the light with him.  
  
Thor bowed his head for a moment and spoke to Jack, "until we meet again O'Neill," and he transported back to his ship.  
  
"Yeah, bye," Jack said watching the light disappear.  
  
Jonas turned to the small crowd that had gathered and winked a Cassie. He then released the ball of his fist that had been curled by his side. A dozen colourful butterflies, as fragile as snowflakes flew from his grasp, much to the delight of the children who danced after them in the dusty ground  
  
Show off, Cassie beamed.  
  
Yeah, well, Jonas told her with a face of non-melting butter.  
He then turned to a slightly astonished SG1, "I can pull rabbits out of hats too," he said with a playful, half-cocked smile.  
  
Jack shook his head and nodded across to Daniel who started to dial home.  
  
====  
  
Daniel massaged the bandage covering his arm and tried to focus on translating the ornately inscribed scroll in front of him. Malek had handed it to him on the planet telling him that a Tok'ra infiltrator had stolen it from a Goa'uld strong base. The reason for the theft was the name given to the artefact, "The City Of The Lost." The yellowing parchment was inscribed with a mismatch of detached runic letters entwined with elaborate period drawings depicting mythical creatures.  
  
Daniel stared at the letters willing an understanding to surface from their disorder but all he could decipher were the pictures from the text.  
  
"Need a hand, Dr Jackson?" Jonas's question skipped across the room.  
  
Daniel looked up and smiled, "hey, settled back in?"  
  
"Yeah, got my old room back," the Kelownan put his hands in his pockets as he walked over to the desk and began to fiddle with a bronzed statue that was holding one of the corners of the scroll in place.  
  
Daniel understood, rolling up the scroll he offered the younger man a seat. Jonas sat down slowly turning the seat so he was in profile to the desk and stared intently at 'The Mummy' poster on the wall, a present from Colonel O'Neill a couple of years back. He tapped his index finger on his lips and asked, "Dr Jackson what was it like being ascended?"  
  
Daniel leaned back on his chair clasping his fingers together on his lap, "to be honest, Jonas, it's a question I've asked myself."  
  
"Did you feel fulfilled?"  
  
He thought on the question for a moment searching through memories that were as transparent as ghosts and found they whispered, "no, no I didn't."  
  
"Why?" The Kelownan asked, needing to feed on the answer.  
  
Daniel found it hard to stem his response as if the memories of that time were breathing for him, "they didn't seem to want to interfere and I guess I was just too close, I couldn't be objective, I needed to 'meddle'."  
  
"But Oma's the same, she intervenes?"  
  
"I guess she's more subtle," he then had the same question on his lips, "what about you, Jonas? I mean, was Olmec impartial? Did he have the power to stop the Goa'uld?"  
  
Jonas turned to look at Daniel his face devoid of emotion, "there are far more things darker on our own doorsteps than the Goa'uld. They're just surviving as they have done for centuries."  
  
Daniel narrowed his eyes, "but they use unwilling hosts, they make slaves out of the inhabitants on countless planets which they rule with fear!"  
  
Jonas held up his hand, "If the Roman's had been capable of space travel would they have not done the same? Did not the Roman Caesars set themselves up as Gods? Did they not invade many lands making slaves of its peoples?" Jonas rubbed his fingertips on his forehead, "Do not get me wrong, Dr Jackson, I don't agree with what the Goa'uld do I, I just 'understand'."  
  
"Well don't let Jack hear that you 'understand.'"  
  
They both smiled and Jonas went back to analysing the poster, "Ragnarok, Anubis," Daniel asked, "they're different aren't they?"  
  
The response was blunt, "yes, they are." He then said, very quietly, "I cannot 'feel' the Ascended any more."  
  
Daniel felt a coldness creep over him as Jonas continued, "it's like they're lost or have lost their link to, to."  
  
"The universe?"  
  
The Kelownan nodded his words fraying around the edges, "Olmec said that Oma would transfer his wisdom on, it's not meant to be held here," Jonas tapped his chest lightly, "in this type of 'vessel', it's, it's like trying to keep the ocean in a jar."  
  
"Does it hurt?" Came the concerned voice back, remembering the events of last night.  
  
"Physically?" He shrugged, "mentally, when darkness strikes the variety of emotions that surge through are to, to, 'loud' to understand. It's like a sea of tears washing the senses from your soul until you are left with nothing but empty sand."  
  
Daniel also stared at the old Boris Karloff film poster until it burnt the back of his eyes. He felt frustrated and angry at the whole ascended thing, there was no peace in the turmoil of his mind, they had left that there, the 'ancients', to punish him. He had so many unanswered questions, fragments of hazy knowledge just out of his reach. Now he looked at Jonas and saw a frailness creep into the younger man's eyes, a frailness mixed with the light of wonderment that reminded Daniel of who he once was.  
  
"It's not always like that," Jonas smiled reassuringly, "just sometimes. There's a lot of joy out there too, it's just sometimes we cannot see it for the sadness."  
  
Daniel needed to say more, wanting to help, "maybe when we find the lost city we'll both find the answers we're searching for."  
  
"Yeah maybe," the Kelownan said getting to his feet, "thank you Dr."  
  
"Jonas, it's Daniel."  
  
"Thank you, Daniel," he smiled, then, "this picture what's it for?"  
  
"It's a film poster for an old earth horror movie, Jack bought it for me as a sort'a joke."  
  
Jonas looked puzzled, "oh."  
  
It was Daniel's turn to smile, "I've got the tape here, somewhere, remind me to lend it to you."  
  
Jonas looked at the poster once more before nodding.  
  
========= 


	8. Mia

Hi, Disclaimer, see other chapters  
  
-Mia-  
  
=========  
  
The door of the briefing room rocked on its hinges and Daniel hurried through. He looked apologetically at his assembled teammates, General Hammond and Dr Fraiser.  
  
"See, I told you," Jack said, "Daniel's still working on Tok'ra time."  
  
"Sorry, I was with Jonas, forgot the time."  
  
"Is he alright?" Sam asked looking quickly towards Janet.  
  
Daniel rested his hands on the table, sighing before he answered, "seems he's 'lost' contact with the Ascended."  
  
"And that's bad because?" Jack asked.  
  
"Because Olmec 'powers' were only passed to him temporally, Oma was meant to transfer them from him."  
  
"Is Mr Quinn in any danger?" The General looked from Doctor to Doctor.  
  
Janet took up the answer, "we don't know, sir, each time he has an 'episode', it takes him longer to recover. Both the Tok'ra and myself ran extensive tests and found no evidence that this is harming him physically."  
  
"But mentally Doctor?" Hammond enquired.  
  
Janet looked around at the others, "I don't know General. If it were any other member of SG1 I could tell you. We've only known Jonas for just over a year and with every thing that's been thrown at him I would say he's handling it pretty well, maybe better than you or I, but that's only on the surface." She looked down at her blank pad; "I don't have any background on him, his life before the SGC but my gut feeling is that he will need our support more than ever. Jonas, for whatever reason, always has this need to prove his worthiness, even if it means taking chances with his health. I think, as his friends, we should just keep an eye on him."  
  
General Hammond nodded and looked for agreement around the table, which was unanimous, "Dr Jackson, I would like your view on the Asgard's 'truce' with Anubis, do you think they will align themselves with him?"  
  
"Going by his past record, Anubis doesn't keep his word," Daniel replied, Abydos stinging in his response, "but the Asgard are desperate for cloning knowledge and Anubis has used this technology."  
  
"Yeah, but look at the results he had, Daniel," Jack interjected.  
  
"I am Jack. He managed to produce a Hok Taur, from an Asgard point of view that has to be worth looking in to."  
  
"So you think we should be worried?" The General asked.  
  
"I think Jonas was right, I think that the aim was to split the Asgard and while they're debating Anubis can concentrate on other matters."  
  
"Like us?" Janet said to the silent room.  
  
General Hammond looked across the table, the wheels in his mind already in motion, "so people our main priority has to be finding this city of the Ancients. Dr Jackson, the scroll Malek gave you were you able to decipher it?"  
  
Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose, "no, but I think Jonas and Cassandra can."  
  
"Daniel?" Sam asked.  
  
"It's the key thing, again, isn't it?" Jack answered.  
  
"Yeah Jack, it's the key thing."  
  
"Dr Frasier?" General Hammond directed his gaze at Janet.  
  
"General, again, I would like this carried out under close medical supervision just as a precaution."  
  
"Understood. Okay people let's get on it!" Hammond cried eagerly.  
  
=======  
  
Ragnorak stared into the eddying darkness of the portal he had just opened. He touched the fringes of its outer tendrils and felt the enormity of its power.  
  
"Why have you summoned us," came the commanding voice from within the blackness.  
  
"My Lord, the Taur'ri posses the means of finding the lost City."  
  
"Ah, but there are many steps before the doors can be opened and we are monitoring their progress, closely. Do not fear; they grow weaker in your shadow as it darkens their hope."  
  
=======  
  
Jonas felt a growing unease as he waited in the infirmary. There was something watching, something that could hide in corners, something that could whisper to a man's heart.  
  
Teal'c felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, "Master Bra'tac," he began.  
  
"I feel it to," Bra'tac confirmed as he nodded toward Jonas.  
  
Jonas turned his attention to the scroll hardly noticing as the room suddenly went blank.  
  
He looked up into the fog that now surrounded him trying to sense what it held.  
  
A lone figure skipped out of the opaque and stood before him, the balloon, tied to her wrist, dragging on the floor.  
  
She looked at him with hollow eyes that held nothing but emptiness, "you will fail, Jonas," she spat in a voice of malice and shadow, "can you not feel it, in your heart? All those people relying on you, all those people you're going to let down, all those people who are going to die because of you. You can't afford to have friends, Jonas, something bad always happens to those who get too close to you."  
  
She smiled at him with decaying teeth and whispered close to his ear, "do you still hear me in the night, sobbing, begging for my life, calling for you, brother, to come save me? But you're not my brother are you Jonas? You're not even Kelownan, you were manufacture in a lab, a product of someone's used cells, you're not even unique."  
  
She began to laugh but there was no humour in it's sound, "what's it like having the same face as evil, the same face as a monster? You know, you should get 'Daniel' to lend you his copy of Frankenstein, it's a film you could relate to."  
  
A soft light suddenly reached through the menacing gloom that was encasing his soul and following its plume was a small, blue, butterfly that brushed against Jonas's hand.  
  
"Bitch," echoed the corpse like child as Jonas came spiralling back to the infirmary.  
  
He found himself looking into Cassandra's warm eyes, her fingers delicately touching his temple, "what the hell was that all about?" O'Neill asked.  
  
Jonas stood up from the chair he had been occupying, freeing himself from the Doctor's monitoring equipment, "I can't do this, people are going die," he looked round at the other members of SG1 for support.  
  
Cassie went to him but he shied away from her touch, "Jonas," she said the concern flowing in her voice, "something is trying to deceive you, whatever you think you're seeing it's not real."  
  
The Kelownan spread his hand out before him sensing the malevolence unfolding in the room like the wings of a hungry raven. It started with a solitary sob, a child crying against the dark, distress and torment in its voice escalating into screams of terror.  
  
"Oh my God," Janet said feeling the panic and fear course through her, taking breath from her lungs.  
  
Jonas covered his ears, trying to block out the sound of his name that was haunting the room in broken sobs.  
  
Sam saw the young man's eyes fold into tears as he slid down the wall bringing his knees up to his chest for protection.  
  
The small girl that Jack had seen earlier floating over Jonas's bed, appeared before them. She studied the infirmary through the vacant cavities that were once her eyes and smiled using a face emaciated with death. "Hi Jack," she said through broken lips and with a voice too low to be hers.  
  
"And you would be?" O'Neill asked.  
  
Another smile split across the wax of her face, "why, I'm Jonas's dead sister, Mia, please to meet you all." She dipped in a dainty curtsy, pulling at edges of her tattered dress.  
  
"The hell you are," Jack said looking toward Jonas for confirmation but the Kelownan's face was completely blank.  
  
"Always the cynic, eh Jack? Well, let's not beat about the bush, then, shall we? I've come for the scroll."  
  
Cassie placed her hand over the paper to guard it, "yeah, well, no can do there, little lady," O'Neill replied scratching his head, "how about something more for your age group?"  
  
"But I want that! And I want it now," Mia scream her face contorting into something more demon than child.  
  
Without warning she leapt across the room much the same as a cat with a mouse in its sights. Bra'tac managed to get off a shot but it fell short of its mark.  
  
Cassie gathered up the parchment and threw it to Daniel as Teal'c blasted another shot in the direction of the child but it just rolled off her, "humans," she spat, "so two dimensional. Gentlemen, your weapons will not harm me, although they may just piss me off and you don't want to do that now, do you?"  
  
Mia stood facing Cassie; a battle of wills priming the air in between them until the demon child stuck a small hand into Cassandra's chest. Cassie's monitor flat lined and she crumpled to the floor as Mia held a glowing orb of light in her hand, "Dr Jackson, 'Daniel', the scroll please or I'll crush this bitch's life-force."  
  
Daniel went to hand it over but Jonas stopped him, "no!"  
  
Mia turned her attention the Kelownan whose eyes were glazed over white, "that really freaks me out," O'Neill said to Sam as they both readied their handguns.  
  
Jonas fired a blistering pulse of energy that cracked the air like a whip as it coiled at the child, winding her as it struck. The light in her hand flew back to the body of Cassandra restoring the breath to her inert body.  
  
"Would you hurt me Jonas?" Mia's voice changed to that of a small child.  
  
"I do not know you," came the cold reply.  
  
"I am your sister."  
  
"No, my sister is dead."  
  
The child became more menacing as she walked to the Kelownan, "who let me die, Jonas, who let the man take me?"  
  
Jonas began to doubt himself, "Jonas, this isn't your sister," came Cassandra's firm voice clearing the stupor in his mind.  
  
He threw a bubble of energy from his body encasing and suspending the struggling child in the air. He walked over to her and spread his hand on the outer shell of the enclosure, "Mia's dead," he said to the trapped being, "and I have re-lived the day she was taken since I was ten years old. Yet I have seen you in my nightmares, heard your voice taunting my soul, making me forget who she really was, the laughter and joy of her being," Jonas closed his eyes and a cascade of childish giggles filled the room.  
  
The demon child's body fluctuated like a weak signal until it stretched and separated into two. The bubble of energy around both forms burst and they both fell to the floor.  
  
One was a small delicate girl, of about seven years, with porcelain features and a mass of unruly, white, blonde hair. In her hand she held the other, a tumour of black matter that swirled like a mini universe. The Child turned to Cassandra and smiled a smile that would melt the heart of any parent. She then walked over to Jonas and handed him the dark orb, which he crushed in one hand until it was nothing but dust on the wind.  
  
The child reached up to touch Jonas's face as two wayward tears tumbled down his cheeks, "thank you for letting me go," she said handing him the dragon balloon that was tied around her wrist.  
  
He bent down and she kissed his cheek, "I'll always be here, Jonas," she whispered placing a hand on his heart as she faded in cloak of pure light that blinded the whole room.  
  
When Jack and the other's eyes had re-adjusted both Jonas and the girl had gone, one to another level of existence, the other, topside to release the balloon.  
  
"Sir," Sam said, "shouldn't we?"  
  
"I'll go," Cassie replied heading for the door.  
  
"Cassie," Janet cried after her.  
  
"Let her go," General Hammond said softly taking Janet lightly by the arm.  
  
Dr Fraiser smiled lightly at him and nodded.  
  
=========  
  
Cassie looked at the lone figure silhouetted against the sunset. She walked over to Jonas, a smile relaxing her face. He turned to greet her, no words necessary. She watched him release the balloon into the late evening sky, its gold dragon shimmering in the soft light.  
  
Cassie encircled him in her arms and he pulled her to his chest, her cheek just inches away from his heart. She closed her eyes, listening to its comforting beat, her own heart soaring with the balloon. She had changed in the two months spent with Olmec. She had gone from a surly, frustrated teenager into a mature, assured young woman. Olmec had guided her but it was a path, she'd known, one day she would take and all the pieces of her life were coming together. Well almost.  
  
Jonas released her and took her hand, his eyes skyward with the balloon. One day, she wished, he will see me for the woman I have become and if our lips should meet, I will give him everything.  
  
But for now they stood in the solace of each other's company watching the sun wilt in the mist of evening and a child's green balloon reach for the stars.  
  
==================  
  
Hope you enjoyed this chapter??  
  
TBC. 


	9. Nidhogg

Disclaimer as ever not mine.  
  
Thanks to CT for making sure there were no large oranges in the text  
  
Hope you enjoy the trip..  
  
==================  
  
Cassie led Jonas back to the infirmary, holding his hand in support.  
  
General Hammond spoke first, concern rounding his words, "son, we can continue this tomorrow, there's no need to carry on today."  
  
Jonas looked into the faces of his team mates and sighed the weight off his heart, "General, sir, we don't have much time. You have to realise that this is not just a Goa'uld you are taking on. Ragnarok and Anubis's actions have given more power to the shadows in the universe."  
  
"Okay, Jonas, I'll bite," Jack replied.  
  
An understanding spread across Daniel's face, "it's the balance thing, again."  
  
It was Jack's turn to sigh. "Yeah, well, I've heard that before, still no clearer here Daniel."  
  
Daniel smiled slightly and rubbed his eyebrow, "Jack, if there are those ascended." He began.  
  
"Then there have to be those who have, descended?" Sam finished.  
  
"Like demons and stuff?" O'Neill added.  
  
Jonas worked the back of his neck and sat down. He picked up Janet's discarded pen and began to toy with it as he thought, heavily, on his next words. "Colonel, we all have a darkness in our souls, a small voice that whispers sinister deeds in the background of our thoughts, which most of us choose to ignore. But when the universal balance has been tipped, the shadows get hungrier and the voice becomes a little louder in us all. An ancient 'evil', born with the universe, feeds on this and is using Ragnarok and Anubis as its tool to grow stronger."  
  
Sam walked to where Jonas was sitting and pulled up a stool next to the Kelownan, "the little girl, Mia?"  
  
He looked at her for a second and then turned his gaze away, "that was not my sister. Just a," he looked toward Jack for inspiration, " 'demon' feeding on my sorrow, using my insecurities to weaken what Olmec passed on." He looked at Sam, again, to explain, "I was meant to be looking after her, she ran off into the crowd to get the balloon, I couldn't keep up."  
  
Sam laid a comforting hand on his arm, "it wasn't your fault Jonas."  
  
The Kelownan shrugged.  
  
"Jonas", General Hammond asked, "if we destroy Ragnarok and Anubis will it stop this, this 'shadow'?"  
  
Jonas gave the older man a gentle smile, "it can only help sir."  
  
"Do you think you can continue?" Hammond looked at the Kelownan, noticing a small amount of blood fall from his nose, "Doctor?"  
  
Janet went over to Jonas while the others milled around the infirmary. "You know Jonas, you can give it a rest for today," she said.  
  
"I'm fine," he replied, moving her hand away to stop the examination.  
  
"Jonas stop pushing me away, I'm still your doctor if not your friend," she pleaded.  
  
A guilty look crossed his face and he massaged his temples, "I'm sorry," he said softly, taking her hand in his, "you'll always be my friend, Janet."  
  
"I know," she whispered her heart stretching a little in her chest, "it's just that."  
  
"I know," he smiled, squeezing her hand, the peace between them mended, "General I'm ready," he said more to the room than the commanding man perched in the corner.  
  
"Doctor?" Hammond looked toward Janet.  
  
She smiled and nodded her approval.  
  
"Okay, Mr Quinn." The General handed the proceedings over.  
  
"Daniel, have you the stone Olmec gave you?"  
  
Daniel nodded and brought it to the Kelownan, "thank you," he said and moved his hand across the pebble smiling, "Cassie."  
  
The young woman placed her hand on top of his while their free hands touched palm-to-palm and as they connected, their eyes glazed over white.  
  
A funnel of light opened from between them, like a bleached sunbeam and dancing in its centre was an array of ancient symbols.  
  
"Daniel, place your hand into the light," Jonas requested.  
  
Daniel studied the swirling text that doubled in his glasses, "me? Why me?"  
  
"Because Olmec entrusted you with the stone."  
  
Daniel looked towards Jack who shrugged and he placed his hand into mix.  
  
The symbols eddied between his fingers, like water over rocks, stuttering for a few moments as they fell into his palm before the current of light took them back. This continued until one stayed upon his opened hand and began to pull others to its nucleus.  
  
Daniel examined the letters in his grasp and found they had formed a word, "Niflhelm," he whispered and as the last syllable skipped from his lips the light folded into a glowing sphere that hovered above his hand.  
  
"Nifhelm?" General Hammond enquired.  
  
"It means 'house of mists'. According to Norse mythology it's a region of icy fogs and mist, situated at the lowest level of the universe. Helheim, the realm of death, is apart of this, this region as well as Nastrond, um, 'the shore of corpses'," Daniel offered, his eyes still drawn to the mass pulsating in his hand.  
  
"Nice," Jack replied, "so warm clothing and holy water required, folks, anything else we need to know Daniel?"  
  
"There's, there's also meant to be a dragon, Nidhogg, which eats the corpses of the dead."  
  
"Right, so let's not forget the dragon slaying equipment, shall we?"  
  
"Colonel," Sam said, "it is only a myth."  
  
"I'll remind you, that you said that when we come face to face with old Nig, Nid, whatever."  
  
"Yes sir," she said smiling.  
  
Daniel handed the light to Jonas who told them, "this is where Olmec hid the key to the city."  
  
"In the land of corpses! Hey, great hiding place there, ain't no way I'd every think of looking there." O'Neill said sarcastically then, "General, with your permission."  
  
Hammond nodded.  
  
=====  
  
SG1 waited patiently as Cassandra manipulated the orb of light until it expanded into a doorway.  
  
"Okay, let's do this," O'Neill said stepping into the light, "dragons beware," he continued with a quick wink in Carter's direction.  
  
Teal'c and Sam followed with Daniel and Jonas taking up the rear.  
  
Jack stepped out into a mausoleum of ice. Vast, irregular, glacier formations cast imposing shadows across the glistening floor. The air was still and hung with a haze of blue mist that captured the pattern of breath from his body. An eerie glow emanated from the walls of the cavern reflecting on the statues that littered the floor.  
  
Jack turned, his ice shoes gripping the polished floor and watched the remaining members of his team come through the portal. He checked they were all present and correct before nodding to Jonas. The Kelownan spread his hand before the doorway and encapsulated it in his palm, putting the orb, it created, into his pocket for safekeeping.  
  
Daniel gazed at the ceiling noticing a spread of vein like tendrils splitting its way though the tomb of ice. "The roots of Yggdrasil," he said softly, following their path along the walls to the ground.  
  
Jack followed Daniel's gaze, "Ygg..."  
  
"The great ash tree." Jonas said his words twisting in front of him, "whose branches spread all over the world and sky."  
  
"Oh," Jack replied non the wiser, "okay, Daniel, Jonas do your thing, find this 'key'. Carter, Teal'c stay focused we don't want any surprises, large serpents, dragons, menacing dwarf or Orcs.  
  
Daniel raised his eyebrows and Jack shrugged almost apologetically, "yeah, I saw the film, small guys, big feet, ring."  
  
Sam shook her head and Teal'c nodded in agreement, "I will keep a special lookout for Orcs O'Neill," he said dryly.  
  
"Jonas any ideas?" Daniel asked as he studied every icy crevasse.  
  
"No, I'm sorry I can only sense an, an emptiness."  
  
"What about the statues?" Jack said gesturing to the lifeless forms idly posturing around them.  
  
Sam looked closer at one of the figures covered in incandescent hoar. "Sir," she said brushing the build-up of frost away with a gloved hand, "sir, this isn't a statue."  
  
They all watched her work through the layers of rime until she revealed light, blue, flesh, "it's Jaffa," she said in astonishment as she exposed a bronze tattoo on its forehead.  
  
"What could have done such a thing?" Asked Teal'c noticing there were no wounds on the warrior, just as the ground began to shake.  
  
"You had to go and ask, T," O'Neill said, steadying himself as the floor started to fracture.  
  
Carter took several, uneven, steps backwards as the ice split under her feet, "earthquake?" She asked above the noise of the tremors.  
  
"No," came Jonas's hushed reply as he, too, began to retreat, "Nidhogg."  
  
A large serpent uncoiled from a sizeable fissure ahead of them. Its broad, meandering, body shimmered with frost and luminescent pearl scales as it lifted its crested, dragon-like head to tower above them.  
  
It took a deep, echoing, breath through its nostrils and looked down at SG1 through glowing crocodile eyes. Its mouth crooked menacingly, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth dripping with drool that fell as shards of glass to the floor.  
  
"See, Carter, I told you so," Jack reiterated aiming his P90 at the 'dragon's' head.  
  
Nidhogg eyed them cautiously before swaying back in one very fluid movement.  
  
"Sir," Jonas said swallowing the lump caught in his throat, "its gonna."  
  
Before he could finish the creature threw itself forward blowing a cloud of freezing, yellow, vapour from its mouth.  
  
SG1 scattered as the harsh mist shattered on the floor before Teal'c missing its mark.  
  
Both Jack and Daniel took cover behind a semi-fallen crystal pillar, Teal'c, taking Jonas with him, dived in the other direction finding shelter behind a massive root, and Sam for all her effort, lost her footing and fell, back toward the dragon.  
  
Jack fired a few rounds at the beast, to distract it from Carter, but they just ricocheted off its scales and smashed into the cavern walls.  
  
Nidhogg recoiled back getting ready to strike at the flailing figure of Sam.  
  
"Shit," cried O'Neill just as Jonas ran from behind the root to help his fallen comrade.  
  
"What the hell? Jonas," Jack cried, getting to his feet as both he and Teal'c simultaneously fired on the creature.  
  
Jonas slid to where Sam was, pulling her to her feet with all his strengthen, just as the dragon-snake blew another pall of freezing breath.  
  
The Kelownan put himself between Sam and the approaching haze and with his free hand protected them with a shield of light.  
  
The creature's vapour surrounded Jonas and Sam but instead of freezing them, like the others, it congealed on the buffer of light and encased them in a dome of ice.  
  
"Damn it," O'Neill said firing another round, "any ideas on how to destroy this thing, Daniel?" He shouted watching the dragon pick up, shake and then swallow a frozen corpse. "I don't want to end up a dragon's Popsicle," he reiterated.  
  
Daniel looked around the room, again, "fire?" He guessed, thinking out loud and then he noticed something, odd.  
  
"Cover me Jack," he said as he leapt to his feet.  
  
"With what? I don't know if you've noticed." But Daniel was already running to the far end of the chamber.  
  
"Teal'c," O'Neill shouted as they both commenced firing again.  
  
Daniel halted by a frozen figure that was Japanese in appearance. The man was kneeling in the opposite direction to all the others as if he was unaware of his impending doom, as if he was drawn to something more important. His still, outstretched, hand hovered above the floor, reaching for something that he would never hold.  
  
Daniel followed the dead man's reach and saw what had cost him his life. He knelt down and started to burrow through the loose, powdery, ice, with his hands, until he had freed the slender object. He stood up and held it aloft, feeling a slight tingle run through him.  
  
The sword was like no other he had seen. Its metal was fluid and red like glowing fire and its hilt was a rough-cut crystal that filtered the weak light into a landscape rainbow; Daniel was mesmerized.  
  
"Hey Daniel, Daniel!" Jack cried, trying to get the younger man's attention, "what you got there?"  
  
"Fire, Jack, fire," he whispered, turning the weapon in his hand.  
  
"What?" O'Neill shouted.  
  
Daniel shook off the hypnotic effects of the sword as Jack's voice brought him back, "um, I think I've found something guys," he said running back toward them.  
  
"Good, do you think that'll kill old, what's-his-face?" Jack asked.  
  
Daniel threw himself down by the Jaffa as Nidhogg moved towards them, taking a head off another cadaver with a sickening crunch.  
  
Teal'c examined the sword, "it is indeed a magnificent weapon, Daniel Jackson," he remarked.  
  
"Yes but will it kill the you-know-what," Jack shouted across to them.  
  
"I don't know, Jack, but what other options have we got?" Daniel replied.  
  
"Okay, I'll distract it, Teal'c?"  
  
"I will slay the beast, O'Neill," the Jaffa said with a slight nod of his head.  
  
"Right, on." But before he could finish the pillar protecting them started to crumble as Nidhogg knocked it with its head causing Jack to throw himself out into the open.  
  
"Oh crap," the Colonel said, looking up at the poised body of the dragon.  
  
The creature breathed in, Jack raised his weapon, their eyes locking momentarily and as Nidhogg started to exhale Teal'c thrust the sword into its body.  
  
There was a great gush of steam as the blade forged itself in the creature's body, throwing Teal'c from his feet.  
  
The creature flicked its head down to where the sword was lodged in an effort to remove it. The Jaffa sprang back up, pulling the sword from its resting place just as the dragon's jaws snapped at the empty wound.  
  
The beast backed away keeping both O'Neill and Teal'c in its sights and prepared to unleash another cloud of ice.  
  
As it drew breath, Teal'c went to strike again but the beast was ready for the attack and caught him in the coils of its tail that had unravelled from the breaking ice. The creature tightened its grip, slowly crushing the Jaffa, squeezing the air from his body. Teal'c fought against the pressure and in his struggle let go of the sword. It then released a vapour cloud in O'Neill's direction but the Colonel saw it coming and dived behind the dome of ice that held Sam and Jonas.  
  
Daniel ran out into the open to pick up the fallen sword but Nidhogg noticed his movement and brought his head down clipping Daniel's shoulder. The force of the blow caused him to roll across the ice into a shallow crevasse not far from O'Neill. A hot pain shot through his arm as put his weight on it, in an effort to stand, and he fell back into the hollow.  
  
"Jack," he shouted and with his good arm threw the sword across the floor to the Colonel.  
  
O'Neill collected the sword and hurled it towards the dragon's neck as the creature dipped down to find Daniel. The tip penetrated the armour of scales surrounding its throat but it hung loosely, where it had connected, doing little damage.  
  
"Damn," O'Neill spat.  
  
The beast instinctively lifted its tail to brush the object away forgetting that Teal'c was still held there. The Jaffa saw his opportunity and grabbed the crystal hilt of the sword and pushed it forcefully into the dragon's gullet. A powerful spray of life fluid escaped from the fatal gash expelling the sword to the ground below. The beast's great head thrashed backward as it writhed in agony loosening its grip on Teal'c and dropping him to the floor.  
  
The Jaffa picked himself up and quickly ran out of the way as the dragon sank, unceremoniously, to the floor.  
  
The creature closed its eyes as the last breath fell from its body in a thick, dramatic gurgle and all around a clear, gelatinous, liquid pooled, oozing from its neck.  
  
Teal'c helped Daniel, carefully, out of the hole before picking up the fallen weapon that was lying on the ice. He noticed it had changed, the metal had become solid and the fire had turned into a pattern on its blade.  
  
Jack joined him and patted Teal'c on the back, "you okay T?" he enquired.  
  
"I am fine O'Neill," he nodded, "but I think Dr Jackson is in need of some attention."  
  
Jack turned to younger man sat on the lip of an icy hollow, "Daniel?"  
  
Daniel held his good hand up, "I think I've dislocated my shoulder," he winced.  
  
Jack made a face in sympathy and then turned to the dome of ice that held Sam and Jonas. He knocked it with his fist, "its rock solid," he said.  
  
"Try this O'Neill," Teal'c said, handing him the sword.  
  
Jack looked down at the weapon, shrugged and then tapped the sword lightly on the crust of the dome. The rime crumbled into fine particles revealing two icy figures huddled together for warmth.  
  
"Hey Carter," Jack said softly, as he wiped the fragments of frost from her shivering form, "we've killed you a dragon."  
  
"Sir," she coughed, getting to her feet with help from the Colonel.  
  
"Jonas?" Jack enquired, watching Teal'c help the Kelownan to stand.  
  
"I'm fine, sir," he replied shuddering with cold.  
  
"You know, you could have been killed?" Jack chided.  
  
"I, I." Jonas began to stutter but Jack gave him a quick grin and the younger man relaxed into a smile that faded quickly.  
  
"Hey Jonas?" O'Neill asked, concerned, as a shaft of light, stemming from the dragon, hit the Kelownan's body.  
  
Jonas's eyes glazed over and the sword, which O'Neill had discarded, flew into his hand. He walked, in a trance, over to the creature's carcass and stabbed its body once more.  
  
"Hey Jonas, its okay, the thing's dead," Jack told him.  
  
Where the sword had pieced the skin, the body started to freeze and rupture in a spread of spider web cracks until the whole carcass shattered like a great cathedral window.  
  
Jonas stepped into Nidhogg's remains and picked something out from the debris and handed it to Jack, "Olmec's key," he whispered returning to normal.  
  
O'Neill looked at him and then at the large, glittering, diamond in his hand. It was as big as a baseball, flawless and shaped in a 'Round Brilliant' cut, except the culet (tip), which instead of being pointed, was squared off. "Wow," he said handing it to Sam, "this doesn't mean we're engaged or anything, Carter" he added.  
  
She took the stone and held it, high, in her hand watching the light transform off its polished surface.  
  
"Wow," Daniel echoed as the colours swarmed and danced like crazy ants.  
  
"I need to get the portal ready," Jonas said stepping away from them into the shadows.  
  
========  
  
Jonas walked away from the others and found a secluded spot. He felt Olmec knowledge wash over his body and he began the ancient rite it had set.  
  
He looked at the sword in his hand and raised it before him cutting through the mist in the chamber. A soft breeze swirled around the weapon carrying a small amount of vapour into its crystal hilt where it became trapped, "air," Jonas said softly.  
  
The haze weaved its way along the flames embedded in the metal making them glow with a temperate heat. "Fire", he whispered.  
  
Jonas ran the blade, gently, through one of the smaller roots of the Word Tree that clung to the wall beside him. A dusty deposit smeared the brilliance of the metal, melting into the blade, staining it bronze, "earth."  
  
He then knelt on the floor and coated the sword, evenly, in the glutinous residue that had seeped from the dragon, "water."  
  
Jonas closed his eyes and gripped the cold crystal hilt with both hands, pointing the sword out in front of him. He felt the four elements charge, surging through him as they drew on each other's energy. Several snakes of lightening discharged from his inner being and struck the tip of the blade, transforming the metal into a white energy.  
  
Jonas freed one hand and held the sword above him as it slowly diminished into quivering particles of light that disappeared into his palm.  
  
======  
  
More to come... 


	10. Any Road

Hi, me again with another chapter.  
  
Disclaimer - Looked under my pillow but there was nothing there, so still don't own.  
  
Please don't sue - All my money went on tickets to see Bryan Adams :oD  
  
To all those who reviewed - thank you for your sunshine xxxxx ;o)  
  
Anyway  
  
But oh Lord we've got to fight  
With the thoughts in the head with the dark and the light  
No use to stop and stare  
And if you don't know where you're going  
Any road will take you there  
  
George Harrison - Any Road  
  
======  
  
"Welcome back SG1," General Hammond said, as all members stepped through the light beaming into the infirmary.  
  
"Sir," O'Neill nodded and handed him Olmec's key.  
  
"Is this the key, Colonel?" Hammond looked from the diamond to O'Neill.  
  
"Yep, one that could open many doors," Jack replied.  
  
"I would like to run some tests on it, sir," Sam asked.  
  
"Not before you and Jonas go and get out of those wet clothes, Carter. Then get the Doc, here, to check you out. Daniel you're up first," O'Neill said shepherding his friend to an empty chair.  
  
"Trouble, Colonel?" The General enquired.  
  
"Oh, nothing we couldn't handle sir, isn't that right T?"  
  
"Indeed, O'Neill," came the Jaffa's response.  
  
"I'll look forward to your report." Hammond said smiling.  
  
=====  
  
Jonas shut the door to the small room assigned to him and rested his eyes in the dark. He rubbed the furrows from his brow wanting to be alone with his thoughts but that was not to be; the universe was always there, pushing him closer to the abyss.  
  
He sat on the utility bed and put his head in his hands in an effort to block out the feelings that were kneading his spine and wrenching his stomach; something was coming, something bad.  
  
He undressed in a daze, leaving a trail of discarded clothes and turned the shower on high until steam filled the tiny bathroom. He stepped under the jet of water and let the heat sting his skin as a reminder that he was still human, still breakable.  
  
He pressed his head against the cool, white, tiles as the water ran down his back cleansing and warming his naked flesh. He swallowed deeply, emotion building in his eyes, he was not ready, whatever plans the universe had for him, he was not ready; there was still so much he wanted to do, so much he hadn't experienced. Tears raced down his cheeks, mingling with the scolding spray in an effort to escape the torture of his soul. The shower was a good place to cry.  
  
He rubbed the salt from his face with his hands and smoothed back his hair to the nape of his neck. His body began to shiver as an apprehension grabbed at his heart with ominous fingers, constricting his chest until all he could hear was the echo of his own breath. He grabbed at the walls of the shower to steady himself but a violent pain pushed from within him forcing him to his knees.  
  
"It is close," the universe whispered, "it is coming, we must prepare."  
  
He put his hand to his heart as an immense power surged through him numbing his senses and scraping his soul.  
  
He lay in the shower basin his mind separated from the tremors of his body and watched the water run scarlet around him. He thought about standing, wondering if anyone had ever drowned in a shower before but found he could not move.  
  
"We must prepare," came the whisper carried on the falling water like a mother's lullaby.  
  
Jonas shut his eyes and oblivion draped her soft velvet cloak around him.  
  
======  
  
Sam watched the Kelownan's eyes unknot as he slowly came back to them.  
  
"Hey, hero," she said softly waiting for him to focus.  
  
Jonas tried to talk but his throat felt like broken glass.  
  
"Here," Sam placed a plastic cup and straw near his lips which he drank from slowly.  
  
"How, how long, was I out?" He asked, hoarsely.  
  
"Two days," Sam replied stroking his head, "you had us all worried."  
  
She looked at him, as the soft light illuminated is face; he did not look well. His skin had become drained and translucent revealing a network of veins, which added a blue tint to his pallor.  
  
"Two days! I must." He tried to move but he was too weak.  
  
"Hey, hey," Janet laid a restraining hand on his shoulder, "where do you think you're going, mister?"  
  
Jonas fell back onto the bed without much pressure, "the key," he murmured, gazing at the ceiling lights.  
  
Janet looked across at Sam who mirrored her concern, "Jonas you need to rest," she reiterated, "that's an order!"  
  
Jonas looked between the two women, "the key, we must, there's something, something coming," he breathed.  
  
Sam glanced at Janet, "do you know what?" She said gently, touching the heat of his forehead.  
  
Jonas began to shake, "no, I can just sense, there's, there's, a joining, a meeting of two paths. Sam," he grabbed her arm pulling himself up from the bed, "Sam tell Daniel, Olmec's key, he must, he must, use it with the parchment, tell him," he collapsed back onto the pillows.  
  
Sam continued to stroke his hair, "I will Jonas," she said.  
  
He closed his eyes, his face twisting momentarily before sleep took control of his being.  
  
Janet sighed and ran her fingers through her hair deep in thought. She pulled the covers over her charge in an effort to keep the young man safe and touched his burnished cheek. She exchanged a quick glance with Sam who got to her feet and laid a reassuring hand on Janet's arm before leaving.  
  
Janet sat in the chair Sam had vacated and watched Jonas's body wrestle with an unseen foe. She took his hand in hers and held it tight, medically there was nothing wrong with him, she had run every conceivable test but her gut feeling was, this 'Olmec power' whatever it was, was killing him.  
  
====  
  
Daniel placed the 'baseball' diamond, as Jack had named it, on the centre of the scroll and looked up at O'Neill with apprehensive eyes.  
  
Jack shrugged and stepped back, quickly followed by Daniel who was trying to balance a pad and pen in his newly 'slung' arm.  
  
An orange light radiated from inside the stone illuminating the small office they were working in, "Sam," Daniel whispered "could you turn off the lights?"  
  
The Major hit the switch and the room fell into a mystical twilight.  
  
"That's one expensive nightlight," Jack whistled through his teeth.  
  
Sam nodded in agreement as the blush from the 'key' bleached into a brilliant beam of sunlight projecting the text into the air.  
  
The ancient symbols and images drifted around the room like a flotilla of tiny boats trying to break the ocean. They stretched and turned, dancing around each other in set combinations until their meaning was complete. Daniel touched the first inscription with his finger, his mind running, "Hagalaz - hail, disruptive or changing forces at work." He followed the path of the symbols and illustrations, "arrow-storm, crashing wind, game of iron, fog of blood, they're all kennings, um a riddling reference, to, to an item or concept used in Norse and Anglo-Saxon poetry."  
  
"Right," said O'Neill, "a riddle, figures."  
  
"What does it mean?" Sam asked.  
  
"The first part seems to be about a battle, and death, 'seven day journey' and 'corn of ravens', which refers to dead bodies."  
  
"Nice," Jack said with a twitch of his eyebrow.  
  
"There's a reference to 'shooter against one', which is an enemy and also the 'hooded one' which I think, is a reference to a snake."  
  
"Or Anubis?" Teal'c stated.  
  
"Yeah," Daniel nodded, "that would make sense."  
  
"So there's going to be a battle with Anubis," Jack reiterated, "well I could have told you that!"  
  
Daniel glanced at O'Neill sternly then looked at the next collection of floating symbols, "Algiz, protection and Gebo, balance. Against that we have, 'staff of sword, man, redbeard, which usually means Thor."  
  
"The Asgard?" Sam offered, moving closer.  
  
Daniel nodded again, "maybe," he traced the next letters with his finger, "prince of battle, warrior and the 'ancestor of many'"?  
  
"So," Jack began, "we have man, Asgard, warrior, and a great-great grand father but no 'Ancient City this way', some key."  
  
Daniel looked again at the text, muttering the words quietly to himself, over and over, "that's it," he cried excitedly, "man, that's us, the Asgard, the warrior is the Jaffa, the 'ancestor of many', the Tok'ra."  
  
"An alliance." Sam said frowning.  
  
"To, to protect the balance, Gebo," Daniel whispered in a spread of understanding. "See here, this inscription, 'earth rings linked by corpse drink and swoop of swords will hear whispers of the glowing-ice."  
  
"And that would mean?" Jack asked exasperated.  
  
"Um, hands linked by blood and battle will hear the secrets of the diamond, the, the key. I think what it's saying is that the doorway to the city can only be opened by an alliance."  
  
"So we have to share," Jack offered.  
  
"Maybe the Ancient ones decided that their weapons were too powerful for one race to control, O'Neill," Teal'c said examining the symbols.  
  
"Wait, I've missed something," Daniel exclaimed, looking deep into the mass of words, "there, the letter Tiwaz, victory, justice."  
  
He started to pace the room holding his wounded arm as he did so, looking back every so often at the display.  
  
"Daniel?" Sam enquired.  
  
"'Ancestors of many," could just as easily refer to a Goa'uld, right?" He murmured, waving one finger about in the air.  
  
"I suppose Daniel," Sam said, "why?"  
  
"And Anubis has many Jaffa and humans under his command," Daniel continued.  
  
"Yeah, but no Asgard," Jack said in understanding and then, "yet," remembering Thor's earlier visit.  
  
"So, Anubis could form the same alliance and enter the city if he had Olmec's key?" Sam summarised.  
  
"No, I don't think it's that easy. I don't think it's just about forming an alliance," Daniel added.  
  
"Care to share Daniel?" O'Neill said leaning back on an untidy desk.  
  
"Jack, I think it's whoever wins this, this battle gets to enter the city."  
  
"To prove themselves worthy of such advance technology," Teal'c added.  
  
"Great, you guys don't make it easy," Jack said shouting up at the ceiling, he then looked towards Daniel, "I'm beginning to wonder just how 'advanced' these people, were. Why all this cloak and dagger stuff? Why riddles and keys and, and big snake-dragons?"  
  
"This text, this key, was made thousands of years ago when myths and legends (and dragons) were still a real part of our lives."  
  
"So what you're saying Daniel, is these higher beings didn't update."  
  
Daniel smiled, "I guess it's all a part of their master plan."  
  
"Yeah, well, a map would have been useful," Jack said looking up at the ceiling again.  
  
Daniel nodded as he removed the diamond from the parchment and the projection of light merged with the darkness of the room.  
  
"There's something inside the key," Sam said noticing a fluorescent, blue- white glow, trapped in the stone's centre.  
  
Daniel studied the cloud his head tipping slowly to the right on doing so, "Pertho", he whispered."  
  
"Pertho?" Sam echoed.  
  
"It means, hidden mysteries or transformation," he replied, turning the stone in his hand, "wait there's something else. Something," he removed his glasses and looked deeper into the key.  
  
"Two crossed swords, whoa," Daniel put the diamond back on the desk and stepped back as it began to glow again.  
  
Four images soared from its core and burnt through the darkness of the room.  
  
"Fire, earth, water, air," Daniel chanted, following their journey.  
  
"The elements," Sam said letting the icon for water flow through her outstretched fingers and disappear.  
  
The other images vanished at the same time leaving SG1 in darkness once again.  
  
======  
  
The hour was late when Cassie slipped into the infirmary. Janet had fallen asleep at her desk and the young woman smiled at the figure of her sleeping mother.  
  
She crept over to where Jonas lay and placed her palm on his forehead; he woke instantly.  
  
Did you get it, he whispered in her mind.  
  
Yes, she answered bringing Olmec's key into view, I just called and it materialized in my hand.  
  
Good, Jonas fell back on the bed and covered his brow with his hand.  
  
Cassie put the key back in her bag and sat on the bed, Jonas come with me, she pleaded.  
  
He looked at her and smiled, I cannot, he replied, I have to stay.  
  
She closed her eyes to stop the tears, she knew the truth in his words, I, I don't want to lose you.  
  
He took her hand in his and held it to his heart, I don't want to die either, he replied, brushing a stray hair from her face, but there's no one else to fight this, you know that.  
  
Cassie felt the weakness in his soul as the power fed on his energy, a large tear fell from her and spread across the bedclothes.  
  
I will fight this Cas, he said, we can win, all of us, everything will be okay, you'll see.  
  
She shook her head wishing she could believe his words.  
  
Jonas unfolded his fingers across her cheek and wiped the tears away with a thumb, you must go, he said finally.  
  
She drew back but not before meeting her lips with his, stay safe Jonas Quinn, let the light guide you, she said clutching his hand until it sparked.  
  
You too, he replied watching her go.  
  
=====  
  
Take care, until next time x  
  
:o) 


	11. Dancing In The Moonlight

Hello  
  
Well another chapter up, hope you're still enjoying this  
  
Disclaimer - nope not mine, just borrowing, will put back when finished.  
  
=====  
  
Ragnarok stood before the gaping blackness churning onboard his mother ship. Inside of him Anubis's voice cracked through his mind echoing his unsettled feelings.  
  
A featureless face emerged from the void with eyes like molten lava, burning will all the sins of the universe.  
  
"My lord," Ragnarok said bowing in reverence.  
  
"Our plan is near completion?" The form asked.  
  
"Yes, I am informed that the Tau'ri have acquired the old man's key."  
  
"Good," the eyes swelled with fire, "and the boy?"  
  
"He is on earth but very soon the SGC will be under our control," Ragnarok smiled malevolently.  
  
The shadow seemed pleased, "yes, I can feel it," it said closing its eyes and reaching out into the room with its Stygian hand, "but I will need to take the light from the boy first, to add to our strength, to make sure of our victory."  
  
"But my lord, he is ours, you promised him to us, did we not create him."  
  
The form's eyes sprang open, "he is more than you created. He holds the truth of the universe inside his fraught body and I will snub it out forever. I will take him with me to the shadows of my realm, where pain is the only light that shines and rip it from his carcass, while his heart still beats. There I will devour it and him until nothing but darkness remains, then all hope and faith will be gone and everything will be ours."  
  
Ragnarok went to protest but the form laughed, a thick, syrupy laugh that held nothing but poison, "when you summoned me, after your defeat, did I not promise you great power? Have I not guided you, given you the means to rule your universe? Do not fear, Anubis will have his host, Quinn will not be some useless shell when I return him, he will be more than you hope for. Darkness and sin bring their own rewards as does the strength and power of a being without a soul. Then you will be able to ascend, my son, and take my starless night to higher planes. "  
  
======  
  
Colonel O'Neill walked swiftly down the maze of corridors that led to the infirmary, it was still early but he wanted to check on Jonas before SG1's morning briefing.  
  
The Doctor had voiced concern on the Kelownan's condition and Jack wanted to know, needed to know if the kid was going to be all right.  
  
The corridors were unusually quiet and Jack felt a tingle of unease crawl up his spine. He turned a corner and was met by two robust airmen who barred his path. Both saluted with a nonchalant, "Colonel," but their eyes held a sinister edge.  
  
Jack saluted back with a quick nod and went to pass them, "I'm sorry, sir," one of them said stepping forward and holding out a thick hand, "but the infirmary's off limits to all personnel, General's orders."  
  
O'Neill looked suspiciously into the airman's rounded, brown eyes, while he closely observed his partner whisper into the radio.  
  
Jack took a step back, "really," he said.  
  
"Yes sir," the man looked toward his partner who nodded, "may I escort you to General Hammond's office," he said, smiling blankly at O'Neill.  
  
"No, I think I know the way," Jack answered.  
  
"Oh it'll be no trouble at all," he replied, his eyes glazing over black as he primed his weapon and aimed it at O'Neill.  
  
"Oh crap."  
  
=======  
  
Jack was shoved, harshly, through the door of the briefing room with a rifle butt. He fell to his knees with the force of the blow and heard a familiar unctuous voice, "thank you Reynolds."  
  
Jack looked up and found the rest of SG1 and General Hammond knelt on the floor with their hands clasped on the back of their heads. Around them lurked several imposing Special Operations guys.  
  
"You know the position, Colonel, please," the voice said with an air of authority.  
  
O'Neill got to his knees and turned to confront the gloating face of Senator Kinsey, Jack looked from the General to the Senator, "what the hell?"  
  
A heavy boot kicked him in the ribs causing him to fall forward then he was pulled to his knees, "now, Jack, that's no way to talk to the new commander of the SGC," Kinsey said folding his arms and smiling.  
  
"There's no way the President would."  
  
"Oh but there is, Jack," Kinsey replied, "It's amazing what conspiracies you can fashion when you play on a man's fears." he grinned at O'Neill's and started to pace the room commandingly. "Now Jack, maybe you can enlighten us," he spread is hands out in front of him, "where is the key?"  
  
O'Neill looked towards General Hammond and for the first time noticed the bruising around the older man's face. He looked back at the Senator with wide eyes, "what key?"  
  
"Sergeant," Jack felt a fist connect with his jaw, "Olmec's key, Colonel, I want to know where it is," the Senator reiterated leaning over Jack.  
  
"Olmec, Olmec, General do we have an Olmec in our ranks?" O'Neill asked spitting blood.  
  
"No Colonel we don't," came the adamant reply.  
  
"Sorry, bud, can't help you there. Have you tried the Marines?"  
  
Kinsey shook his head, "it's either me or Anubis Colonel, take your pick but you will tell one of us."  
  
Hammond looked the Senator straight in the eyes and would of got to his feet if a firm hand hadn't pressed him down. "Anubis?" He asked shocked, "my God, Kinsey what have you done?"  
  
"I've been smart George," came the reply, "I've made an agreement with Anubis that will save our planet from destruction."  
  
"Smart, Senator? You've made a deal with a Goa'uld and you think that's smart," Jack said sarcastically, "Tell me what does old snaky get out of your this little deal of yours?"  
  
Kinsey smiled ironically and sat back on the desk, "Oh, the key, some aliens and you, Jack and the rest of your team, a small price to pay for our continued safety. "  
  
"What aliens?" The General asked his eyes narrowing.  
  
"The rebel Tok'ra and Jaffa, Nirrti's girl and the Kelownan traitor."  
  
"You would sell out our allies?" Sam asked astonished.  
  
"With the exception of your father, Major, they're all aliens. Yes, I would sell them out to protect my planet."  
  
"Tell me, Senator, what do you get out of all this?" O'Neill asked.  
  
Kinsey smiled just as the door opened.  
  
Two men entered dragging Jonas in by the arms, a weasely looking man, in a white lab coat, followed them.  
  
"Has it worked?" The Senator asked, as the men dropped the Kelownan to the floor.  
  
The man in the white coat nodded and handed the Senator some sort of device.  
  
Kinsey walked over to Jonas and crouched down beside him touching the flashing circular disk attached to his temple, "good," he muttered.  
  
Jonas led quivering on the floor his face deadly pale, "what have you done to him?" Sam asked concerned.  
  
"It's just a dampening device Major, to stop any little tricks." The Senator looked at the two men, "and the girl?" He asked.  
  
"I'm sorry sir, she is not on the base."  
  
The Senator looked over to his Sergeant again, "Ross, bring Doctor Fraiser in here.  
  
The burly man smiled showing a mouth of rotten teeth and went towards the door.  
  
"She's gone," Jonas muttered.  
  
Kinsey held his hand up to stop Ross from leaving and motioned him back to the Kelownan. The Sergeant smiled again, as he dragged Jonas up against one of the walls.  
  
Jonas's eyes flickered under their lids as he gasped for oxygen at the hand pressed against his throat.  
  
"Did you say something, Mr Quinn?" the Senator posed.  
  
The young man opened his eyes and held the Senator in them knowingly, "she's gone," he whispered, almost drunkenly.  
  
Kinsey nodded to his Sergeant who struck the Kelownan forcefully across the mouth and then back again spraying blood across both sides of the white walls in a uniformed pattern. He then grabbed Jonas by chin, pressing at his cheeks with squared fingers, "gone where?" The Senator asked anger rising in his voice.  
  
"To a galaxy far, far away," he whispered back.  
  
Ross hit Jonas again sending him to the floor unconscious. Kinsey smoothed down his tie, clearly deep in thought and stepped over the Kelownan's body. He looked down at the General and then back to the alien in realisation, "she's taken the key," he whispered, to himself and then froze as the room went still.  
  
The lights flickered, violently, leaving a dusk like ambience as some of them shorted and died. Something portentous crept from the half-light, sucking all the warmth from the room and replacing it with an air of merciless malevolence.  
  
The Senator's body began to twitch, slightly, as an intimidating shadow oozed around him. The mercurial blackness funnelled and coiled around his legs before ramming itself through the Senator's chest, pushing his body into air, where it danced like a convict on a gibbet.  
  
The veins in his temples and on his hands started to pound, erratically, as if trying to escape the confines of the skin. His body jerked fiercely, one more time in transformation, as his shell became a stained vessel for something much more monstrous.  
  
Kinsey's body floated back to the floor with outstretched arms and legs together. He looked around the room with unfeeling eyes the colour of pitch and a callousness folded upon his face that made Jack shiver inwardly.  
  
The being stretched the Senator's body, feeling the life it had taken on and the bones clicked with a purpose as it turned its attention back to Jonas. 'Kinsey' lifted the limp body of the young man to his feet, by the collar, and pushed him forcefully into to the wall, "tell me where she is, boy," he spat venomously.  
  
Jonas then turned to face the pitiless stare and said openly, "I do not know."  
  
'Kinsey' smiled and grabbed Jonas by the throat as his eyes narrowed and a beam of black energy burrowed its way through the Kelownan's skull, stinging his mind and biting at his thoughts.  
  
Jonas cried out in pain as he began to bleed freely from his nose, ears and eyes.  
  
Teal'c rose to his feet, to protect his friend, but was hit in the stomach with a rifle butt; he fell to the floor winded.  
  
The distraction gave Jonas time to reach up to his temple and place his finger on the disk. A brilliant light seared its metal causing it to short and fall, charred, to the ground.  
  
The young man's eyes turned a milky white and with great effort he pushed the energy stream back through the 'Senator' causing him to step back and release his hold on the Kelownan.  
  
They stood facing each other an exchange sparking the air between them until the Senator smiled knowingly. "You are weak," he hissed in an inhuman voice, "too weak to take me on. Olmec's light is too great a burden for you, it's burning you up, sucking your energy, killing you."  
  
His eyes flared with fire as he shoved his hand deep within Jonas's chest pushing the darkness that occupied the Senator into the Kelownan. Jonas fell to the floor as a shadow curled around him and pulled him down through the floor to its dimension.  
  
========  
  
Well, not long to go now.  
  
Thank you for reading, stay safe and play the music loud  
  
x 


	12. Shadows

Still borrowing the world of SG1 for a bit, promise I'll put them back all shiny and new.  
  
Looked in my pockets - nope, no money either, just blue fluff.  
  
Gwen, Black Hawk, Becki, Sjaraven, Blujay, Drakcir, Jes, Hebe, Weesta, Evala and everyone one else who has reviewed my work, thank you. Thank you for your inspiration and encouragement, you've given me the shoes to walk this far. x ;o)  
  
Sgt. P. Pud-o, it's been a tough old year 'thank you ever so' for your laughter x  
  
CT - Thank you for giving me wings and letting me fly. xxxxxx  
  
What is the dark; Shadows around you Why not take heart In the new day? Ever and always. Always and ever. No-one can promise a dream for you, Time gave both darkness and dreams to you.  
  
Once You Had Gold - Enya  
  
Well let's get it on (here we go)  
  
======  
  
The whole room became staid, no one dared move, their breathing the only sign of life.  
  
The Senator was statuesque, his whole body cocooned in a film of sweat as his mind tried to rationalise what had happen. By his feet the floor was burnt and still smouldering.  
  
He looked down at his hand as comprehension dawned that he was now in control of his being. He stretched his fingers and returned the glances trained on his back.  
  
He smoothed down his tie and gave a blue-lipped half smile to Ross but Jack noticed his eyes were glassy and vacant, "Ross take them down to the holding cells, I need to contact Anubis. General if you or your team, here, try anything I will make sure others suffer. Do I make myself clear?"  
  
The General nodded objectionably.  
  
=======  
  
SG1 sat quietly, for a while, in the insufficient cell. Sam sat with her head in her hands trying to make sense of Jonas's disappearance, "do you think he's dead?" She whispered slicing her way into the other's thoughts.  
  
Jack rubbed his hands over his face and rested his body weight against one of the khaki walls, detaching himself from the conversation.  
  
"No, no, I don't think so," Daniel said quietly, his eyes fixed on an imperfection in the plaster, "I think he's, he's descended."  
  
"Do you think he is lost to us?" Teal'c asked his voicing holding a slight emotional tremor.  
  
Daniel looked at the rest of the team wishing he had all the answers, "I don't know."  
  
"He's a fighter," Jack said suddenly, his voice resounding off the walls, "and Daniel came back," he stated, gesturing with his hand.  
  
Daniel thought on the broken young man and the powerful being that had taken him, "yeah, Jack I came back," he said in a flat voice.  
  
"Jonas said something about the joining of two paths, a crossing, maybe this is what he felt," Sam offered.  
  
"He'll be back," Jack said looking at the floor, "we're not loosing him."  
  
"Jack," Daniel began but was stopped by Sam, he went back to memorising the disfigurement in the paintwork.  
  
The cell door opened and Ross stood there with General Hammond. The gorilla of a Sergeant beckoned them out with a customised hand weapon, "guess who's going on a space ride," he said slowly as if unused to forming sentences.  
  
"Oh, I don't know," O'Neill replied, "you?"  
  
The Sergeant thought on this with a heavy forehead, "no, no," he stated, blinking, "you," he then smiled with his graveyard teeth.  
  
=====  
  
It was dark.  
  
Something scuttled in the shadows, its claws tapping on a flagstone floor like a woman's metal heels.  
  
There was so much pain and no air to scream, to release the intense pressure building inside of him.  
  
He was vaguely aware of others, he sensed their pitiful existence swirling around him like clouds of ink.  
  
Jonas shut his eyes and cried inside.  
  
======  
  
SG1 were led along the corridors of the SGC like some defeated prize. They passed the gate room that was packed with an army of Anubis's Jaffa.  
  
Jack guessed they would dial the Tok'ra base and launch a surprise attack from here as well as from Anubis's warship.  
  
Sam looked at the small, pale, battered face of Sergeant Davis, through the toughened glass, who was manning his usual position. He looked at her through broken eyes and she tried to smile some reassurance back at him; he smiled, meekly, back.  
  
=====  
  
Jonas curled up into his mind like the child he once was, watching the gunmetal street below for a dragon balloon.  
  
Olmec would have said that all men walk a little in sorrow's shadow, as it is the path to true understanding; without rain there would be no flowers.  
  
He tried to breath but his lungs constricted trying to fight the acid in the air.  
  
He thought he heard sobbing and saw the man he'd once called father, with his faced pressed against the wood of the handmade dinning table, letting a clear bottle of pale apple wine roll on to the floor. It bounced twice on the frayed carpet missing the one eyed cat that Mia had called Sweet Thing. His mother, who was as frayed as the carpet, came to retrieve the empty vessel and looked at Jonas with eyes that said he was not enough. Not enough to fill the void left by his sister, not enough to stop her from jumping.  
  
In the distance he saw the waves playing happily on the dazzling white sands of a Kelownan beach. His mother had laid the green and white checked picnic blanket on the floor and was waiting for him, looking along the shoreline her hand shielding her eyes from the sun. His sister and father were laughing at the arrogant looking dragon they had created in the damp sand.  
  
Jonas called to them, waving, but they could not hear him. He started to walk across the sand but something held him, something pulled him back inside his parent's apartment. It wasn't going to let him go.  
  
Sweet Thing was on the table chewing at the food forgotten on a plate. His father raised his head and looked at Jonas and smiled. Jonas took a step back as the man's face began to rupture, like dry clay, revealing a being without compassion.  
  
=======  
  
The Senator led SG1 to Anubis's chamber on the Cheops Warship. The host turned to greet them and Jack would have sworn that the SOB was smiling.  
  
"Welcome to my victory," the host said, opening his arms for effect, "this day I will defeat all my enemies and you will witness it."  
  
"Oh lucky us," Jack retorted, "you know, bud, I wouldn't get too cocky there, things don't always go to plan."  
  
"Oh, but this time, Colonel, they will." He turned to the Senator, "Senator Kinsey, Anubis and myself would like to thank you, we are forever in your debt."  
  
Kinsey smiled, gloatingly as Ragnarok's eyes flashed and Anubis took control. The Goa'uld spread his hand out producing a ripple of clear energy from the ribbon device attached to it. It distorted the air as it flew from him and slammed into the Senator.  
  
Kinsey buckled to his knees and cried out in pain as wave after wave hit him. His body began to fluctuate and twist until there was nothing left but an expensive suit.  
  
"Hell, what do you guys do when someone pisses you off?" O'Neill enquired his eyes drawn to the two mother-of-pearl cufflinks left on the shirt cuffs.  
  
"You're about to find out Colonel," Anubis hissed.  
  
"You had to ask Jack?" Daniel said in an unbelieving voice.  
  
Jack shrugged as the host took control from Anubis, "Major Carter, why so glum, soon you will be reunited with your father," Ragnarok said, "and you Shol'va, soon your son will kneel before me and call me his God."  
  
Teal'c gave Ragnarok a look of pure hatred and pushed all his body weight towards the host but Daniel stopped him by grabbing hold of his arm. "You're not going to destroy the planet?" He asked trying to calm his Jaffa friend down.  
  
"Do not worry Doctor Jackson, I have no intentions of using the Eye against your allies. I wish to have them grovel at my feet so that all will witness my power."  
  
"Isn't this the part where you laugh manically?" Jack inquired.  
  
"Joke all you want Colonel but can you not feel it? Can you not feel the light slipping away from you and the darkness creeping out from the shadows? I can. I can feel the agony and pain of a pure soul stigmatised with all men's dark deeds and sins. Ninety-five is at the parapet and the pyre that surrounds him is coaxing him to jump."  
  
Jack said nothing but felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle with unease.  
  
=======  
  
Jonas wrapped himself into a tight ball and rocked against the floor. He was empty and defiled, there was nothing left to conserve.  
  
He was so tired; he had no fight left, no spark.  
  
Just before he slipped into silent unconscious something blood warm seeped into his being and a grateful tear cut through the grim, on his cheek, making a path to the floor.  
  
==========  
  
Jack checked his watch again; it was over an hour since they had been thrown in the Goa'uld cell. Below him, he knew, the battle for freedom was raging on the sands of an alien world and there was nothing he could do but stare at the melting minutes.  
  
He was sat resting against a smooth wall with his hands joined on his knees. He looked at the rest of his deflated team and his commanding officer whose downcast eyes held nothing but hopelessness.  
  
Inactivity caused him to drum his fingers on his knees as he thrashed out a monotonous tune, from the radio, that had settled in his brain.  
  
"Sir?" Carter asked.  
  
Jack shook his head and got to his feet, "hell, I hate this waiting."  
  
Sam nodded in agreement she was worried for her father as an unusually restless Teal'c was for his son.  
  
Jack paced the room; he wondered if they felt it too, the feeling of despair that was eating away at the optimism that usual flowed around them. He looked around at his team and saw they were all drowning in Ragnarok's words as they battled the bleakness that had infested them. They need a plan, something.  
  
The door opened and three Jaffa motioned them out into the corridor, "did you loose?" Jack asked, but was reward with a belt from a staff weapon.  
  
Anubis's Jaffa led the team to a ring room where they were deposited on the surface of the planet.  
  
======  
  
SG1 found themselves away from the main Tok'ra complex in a hastily erected compound that held Anubis's prisoners. Several guards were placed by the elaborately carved force field emitters, which hummed with the heavy flow of sparkling blue energy.  
  
General Hammond walked over to Sam's father who was nursing a gash to his shoulder, "Jacob," he said taking the Tok'ra's hand.  
  
"George, we thought you were all dead."  
  
"Hell, we're more indestructible than you think," O'Neill said nodding in the senior Carter's direction.  
  
"So it would seem, O'Neill," Bra'tac said taking Teal'c's hand in greeting, "where is Jonas Quinn?"  
  
"He was taken," Teal'c replied as he hugged Ray'c and looked him over for injury.  
  
Jacob eyes flashed as he looked towards Malek who had joined their reunion.  
  
Sam stood by her father, trying to dress his wound, "what's wrong Dad?" She asked.  
  
"When you say taken?" He enquired towards the General.  
  
"Doctor Jackson believes he has descended," Hammond said wiping the heat of the planet from his face with a square of cotton cloth.  
  
"He is not with Anubis then?" Jacob asked.  
  
"No," the General answered, "Why Jacob?"  
  
It was Malek who responded. "We had an operative working with scientists Anubis had managed to gather from different planets. These scientists were striving to make/clone different beings in an effort to create a superior soldier for the Goa'uld army. This soldier would have great strength and mental abilities, he would be 'programmed' to obey orders with out question, without the risk of being turned."  
  
"Like a robot?" Jack stated.  
  
"Yes," Malek replied, "but a robot would be unable to house a Goa'uld larva."  
  
"And your point?" Jack said cleaning his sunglasses.  
  
"The information that we got was that Anubis would use Jonas Quinn as his next host, after extracting whatever he needs to create an army of advance creatures."  
  
"Yeah, but what about the current host?"  
  
"He will be able to ascend, Jack," Daniel said, "become a greater being."  
  
Sam narrowed her eyes, "you said, 'these scientists were working on making an advanced soldier.'"  
  
Malek looked out into the distance, "our operative destroyed their research, along with the complex and everybody in it, including himself."  
  
"But Jonas Quinn still remains," Teal'c stated.  
  
There was an awkward silence, "Dad, Jonas is one of us," Sam pleaded.  
  
Jacob turned to his daughter, "Sam, if a Goa'uld joined with him there would be no stopping it. It would be a greater threat than Anubis."  
  
Jack looked around the compound drawing attention to their current situation, "really," he said sarcastically.  
  
"Jacob what are you suggesting?" The General asked ignoring O'Neill.  
  
"That whatever happens, George, we cannot let Anubis join with Quinn."  
  
"He may not be coming back," Daniel said softly.  
  
"You did, Daniel," Jacob reminded him, "and once descended he may come back stronger."  
  
"This is crazy, Dad, Jonas is not our enemy," Sam said getting to her feet and looking at Hammond.  
  
"Sam," Jacob said, trying to calm her, "it is not our intention to harm Jonas."  
  
"Maybe he could be persuaded to take a on a Tok'ra." Malek started.  
  
"Don't even go there," Jack said in anger, glowering at the Tok'ra leader.  
  
Bra'tac stood between the men and turned to face O'Neill, "I will not let anything happen to Jonas Quinn," he said, throwing Malek a glance over his shoulder, "we will find another way."  
  
The old man suddenly held his head as an agony spread across his face, "Master Bra'tac you are unwell?" Teal'c said as Jack caught the older man and helped him to stand.  
  
"He has been like this for a few of days," Rya'c told his father.  
  
"Has he been taking the Tok'ra medication?" Teal'c asked.  
  
"Yes, but it has seemed to have little effect."  
  
"I am alright," the older Jaffa said waving their attention away with his hand.  
  
"Teal'c let's get him over to the shade with the injured," Sam suggested.  
  
Teal'c nodded and helped the protesting Jaffa over to a makeshift shelter.  
  
"So," O'Neill asked, "if Anubis creates this new model army what's he going to do with all the surplus Jaffa?"  
  
"From what intelligence we have gathered it seems he has located a planet rich in Naquadria and will need an army to shift the deposits," Malek answered.  
  
Sam looked at the Colonel, "Kelowna."  
  
"Jonas's homeworld?" Jacob asked, "we don't know Sam, all we can tell you is that Anubis is planning to turn this planet into some sort of prison to hold his mine workers."  
  
"Oh this day just gets better," Jack said walking off to one of the force field emitters.  
  
The Jaffa who was guarding it eyed him suspiciously. "Hey there," Jack said in his best 'be nice to the enemy' voice, "hot day," he continued looking at the bloated sun above.  
  
"Move away human," came the caustic reply.  
  
"Okay, okay just trying to be friendly. You know Anubis is thinking of trading you all in for a newer more advanced model?"  
  
"I said move away or I will fire."  
  
"Colonel," General Hammond appeared at Jack's side.  
  
"I was just trying to be friendly, Sir."  
  
"I know Colonel but that's why we have Doctor Jackson."  
  
"What, you think I can't do 'friendly'?"  
  
"Jack," Hammond said, "you don't get to be a Colonel by being 'friendly'."  
  
"Sir." But before could continue his altercation a funnel of transport rings materialised and Anubis stepped out into the compound with three Jaffa guards.  
  
While one kept his staff weapon poised on the group of prisoners the other two dragged O'Neill before the Goa'uld and made him kneel, painfully, at his feet.  
  
"I've been waiting a long time for this," Anubis spat bringing out a sword from behind his back.  
  
"Oh my God," Sam cried and started to run forward but the two guards fired a warning shot at her feet.  
  
"Stay back, Carter," Jack yelled.  
  
"Sound advice, Colonel," Anubis told him.  
  
Jack looked at the sword, "your alter ego okay with this," he enquired.  
  
"He's the one that ordered it," Anubis cracked.  
  
Anubis went to lift the sword above his head but the ground began to vibrate violently. "Ah," the Goa'uld spat, "we have company," he said laying down the weapon.  
  
To his right a void of dark matter began to develop until it was large enough for a being to step out of.  
  
"Jonas," Jack said, greeting the Kelownan.  
  
"Yes but without the burden of light or conscience," Anubis said taking the young man's face in his hand to study him more closely.  
  
The Goa'uld was right, the being that stood before him was blank and empty. It's eyes were hollow and black and held no signs of life.  
  
"Soon I will give you purpose," Anubis whispered into the young man's ear and patted him like some pet animal.  
  
Jonas looked down at Jack with an expressionless face and then over to the rest of SG1.  
  
"Jonas?" Sam said.  
  
The Kelownan looked to the Goa'uld, "go," he said.  
  
The young man walked over to Sam but stopped when he came to Bra'tac who was whispering softly under his breath. He lifted the older man to his feet with his mind, suspending him so he could examine the Jaffa.  
  
He walked around him and then grabbed his throat pulling the old man to his face.  
  
"Jonas!" Sam yelled.  
  
The Kelownan looked to her momentarily and then a back to the Jaffa he had in his grasp. He found the dagger that Bra'tac had concealed on his person and watched the light bounce off it as he turned it in his hand. He then made eye contact with the old man and shoved the dagger deep into Bra'tac's stomach and held it there, with his eyes closed, feeling the blood warm his fingers.  
  
He pulled it out and let the old man fall, creased, to the ground.  
  
Teal'c went to the body on the floor and felt Bra'tac's weak pulse he then looked at Jonas with hard, angry, eyes. He got to his feet and rushed the Kelownan but Jonas felt his intention and pushed him, hard, to the ground with one look.  
  
Jonas turned to Sam knocking her father from his feet as he went to protect his daughter.  
  
The Kelownan held out a bloody hand and wiped a tear that had sprung from Sam's eyes. He felt its texture between his thumb and forefinger before putting it to his lips to taste. Sam noticed the heavy scaring around both Jonas's wrist and the odd glimpses of tortured skin, burnished and puckered beneath the tunic he was wearing.  
  
She looked into his hollow, impassive, eyes and saw nothing but her reflection in the mirror of their darkness. He grabbed hold of the back of her neck and pulled her to him, manipulating her lips into a rough kiss with his own. She pulled back in disbelief, staring at the blankness of his face. He pulled her to him again; this time the kiss was more penetrating. Sam dug the heels of her hands into his shoulders and threw herself backward, slapping Jonas across the face with the back of her hand.  
  
The young man touched the heat of the slap with curiosity and then looked back at Sam with his head cocked to one side as if measuring her action. He then looked at his palm and moved his fingers together in imitation and slapped her back.  
  
Sam dropped to the floor with the force of the blow, her head buzzing as Jonas dragged her to her feet tearing the arm of her shirt. He then looked across to Anubis, "very well," the Goa'uld laughed, "you may have her."  
  
Jonas nodded to one of the hovering Jaffa and threw Major Carter at him. Sam looked again at the Kelownan, her eyes narrowing, before the transport rings took her back to the ship.  
  
Jonas walked back towards Anubis but stopped when he came level with Doctor Jackson. He turned to face him and held out his hand. Daniel felt a slight pull on his neck as the Ra pendant Catharine had given him flew into Jonas's hand. The Kelownan let it hover above his hand for a few seconds before tucking it away in a pocket.  
  
Ragnarok took control from Anubis and beckoned Jonas to him, handing him the sword. The young man seemed mesmerised by the blade and his reflection in it.  
  
"You know what must be done son," Ragnarok said, gesturing to O'Neill.  
  
Jonas nodded and looked down at his commanding officer. Jack held his temple, feeling a ball of paper unfold inside of his head, releasing the words to the suffocating melody that had been trapped there earlier. Words ricocheted around his mind as if spoken with cracked lips full of pain; 'If I had words to make a day for you, I'd sing you a morning golden and new, I would make this day last for all time, give you a night dipped in moonshine.'  
  
Jack turned his head sharply and looked up at the Kelownan. He was greeted with a dazzling smile, "first time dead, Jack," Jonas said just as he brought the sword down.  
  
======= 


	13. Please To Meet You

Disclaimer - NOT MINE!  
  
Sorry the wait's been so long guys.  
  
Thanks to CT for the bread and water shoved under the door of the candle lit office - please can I go out in the sunlight now!!!!  
  
Anyway:-  
  
Please allow me to introduce myself  
  
I'm a man of wealth and taste  
  
I've been around for a long, long year stolen many man's soul and faith  
  
Sympathy For The Devil (Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)  
  
================  
  
The sword hit the ground to the left of O'Neill in a dusty statement of insurrection.  
  
Jack felt the universe hold its breath and looked towards Jonas. The young man's eyes were cloudy and leaden like that of an approaching storm.  
  
He held his hand out and helped O'Neill to his feet, "it's pay back time," Jonas said turning on his heels to meet Ragnarok's dark glare.  
  
The host signalled for his two Jaffa to open fire but Jonas pitched them to the floor with an angry wave of his hand before they could launch a shot.  
  
Ragnarok quickly took stock of his situation as a foreboding cracked through every vertebrae of his spine. He hastily pulled his fists, tightly, to his chest and then breathed out pushing a skein of effervescent energy from his palms. It hurtled, menacingly, through the air towards O'Neill and Jonas but the Kelownan stopped it in mid-flight with a diminutive gesture of his hand. Jonas smiled, his eyes not leaving the hooded face and gently blew on the electrified orb transforming the energy into a shower of melting snowflakes.  
  
Ragnarok retreated leaving Anubis in control of his body, "you were meant to be devoid of light, without a soul," the parasite questioned.  
  
"Guess again," Jonas snarled, his eyes a characterless silver, "remember I warned you that the universe would have its reckoning, well that day is here," he proclaimed, throwing a wave of energy that enveloped the Goa'uld and host in an impregnable bubble.  
  
He then inhaled deeply and stretched his left arm up to touch the peaceful azure of the heavens. The sky stirred, waking from its slumber, blurring the sun with a sudden cloak of metallic cloud, which was drawn to where Jonas was stood. It twisted, revolving around the Kelwownan's outstretched arm into a compacted cyclone of cloud, sparking and hissing in fury with fractured fingers of light that snaked in and around Jonas's body.  
  
He pulled his arm down, severing the connection with the elements of the air and pushed a great charge along Anubis's iridescent force field. This immense surge of power shorted the emitters in a gentle pyrotechnic display, knocking the Jaffa sentries out as it leapt to the metal of their armour. An acidic smell weaved its way around the compound creating a soft cotton haze that helped disguise the prisoners as they relieved the fallen guards of their staff weapons.  
  
Jonas turned his attention to Anubis and released him from his confinement. The Goa'uld seemed dazed and rocked momentarily as he tried to get his body weight under control. Jonas watched him and hesitated for a minute, a frown clearly marking his thoughts as he tried to control the mixture of emotions, the storm of feelings, pumping in his heart. He took Bra'tac's dagger from the sleeve of the rough-cut tunic and used it to slice through his own palm. He then placed Daniel's pendant against the wound and closed his fist around it. Blood and light escaped from his tightly closed fingers until he uncurled them and let the decorated disk of gold fall to the floor. He looked down at his palm, Ra's symbol, the eye, was seared onto his flesh. He held out his hand toward Anubis and a bright light discharged from the open eye, piercing the Goa'uld's body through the chest and again through his neck.  
  
Anubis grabbed at his throat and fell to his knees as the blistering light started to attack his whole body. It tore through him, splitting and dividing the two parts, until Ragnarok and Anubis lay separated on the dirt.  
  
Jonas walked with purpose to where the symbiote lay and caught its tail under his heavy boot. He stretched out his arm to the side and the sword behind him twitched on the ground, and then flew into his waiting hand. Again he faltered as the conflict inside of him, the principled, the moral, the ethical side of his soul cluttered the rhythm of his actions.  
  
Jack observed the Kelownan waiver in his intent and went to wrestle the weapon from the young man's grasp. Jonas turned to greet O'Neill's advancement and his face broke from its façade revealing the damaged human being beneath, "no," he whispered gently, "I must do this."  
  
Jack stepped back as Jonas brought the sword up to his right shoulder, wiping the sweat from his top lip with his sleeve and looked down at the struggling symbiote, "the sky's above me, the grass is so sweet, this journey's circle, will now be complete. This is for all those you took in the night," he cried, closing his eyes and bringing the sword down to decapitate the snake-like creature.  
  
The air fizzed for a moment with expectancy as a flow of heavy static tickled exposed skin trying to find a direction. Then as one life lay forfeit to the metal of a sword another jerked back into life. Bra'tac sat up and stretched back into his body, drinking in the soft breeze, filling his lungs. He stood up, pressing his hand to where the knife had torn his skin and found the wound completely healed. He looked toward Jonas and nodded, the Kelownan smiled back reassured, the universe had given the old man Anubis's life force in payment.  
  
Jonas walked over to where the host lay motionless on the ground, the sword kicking up a cloud of dust as he dragged its tip in the dirt. He spread his free hand over Ragnarok's head as light flickered between his fingers and snapped towards the unconscious man's mind like stinging bands of elastic. They swarmed around his mask, feeding on his brain until its pathways collapsed.  
  
He stepped back, exhausted, the vengeance in his heart burnt out as a small tear curled down his cheek. He did not move but shut his eyes letting the calmness of the moment wash over him, hoping it would purge the guilt from his soul. He let the sword drop and fell to his knees vomiting a black tar like substance that burned into the soil.  
  
The Kelownan, again, wiped his sleeve across his mouth and attempted to stand with Jack's help. He looked down at the two still bodies and then to the Colonel for some sort of assurance.  
  
O'Neill looked into his questioning face, "you did what had to be done," he said leading the young man away from the carnage towards Daniel. The two exchanged looks then Daniel asked, "Jonas what happen to you?"  
  
The Kelownan pulled at the neck of the tunic, he was wearing, trying to hide the visible scars that were protruding above the material. He swallowed deeply and looked for an answer along the horizon, "it took the light from me," he said frowning in memory.  
  
"Jonas," Jack began following the young man's gaze but was interrupted by Jacob who had joined them along with Bra'tac.  
  
"Jack, Malek has taken Teal'c and few Jaffa into the woods, we have a cache of small arms hidden in a tunnel under the lake. Rak'nor and some men are guarding our perimeter and watching Anubis's Jaffa. As far as we can make out Herak, Anubis's first prime, is still on board the warship and may warn them when his master does not reappear," Jacob said his eyes not leaving Jonas.  
  
"Ah, nice to see you people are prepared," Jack said.  
  
"The Tok'ra are always prepared O'Neill," Selmak said from within Jacob, "but we will not be if Herak is able to use his master's energy weapon."  
  
Jonas rubbed his forehead, wearily, and looked into Selmak's imperious eyes, "Sam and Ja'ra will make sure that does not happen," he said drinking slowly from the bottle of water Bra'tac had offered him.  
  
"Ja'ra?" O'Neill echoed.  
  
"The Jaffa who has accompanied Major Carter is not under the Goa'uld's command. I have given Sam Anubis's command code so she can initiate the warship's self-destruct programme."  
  
Jack raised his eyebrows enquiringly.  
  
"When, when I was in the place of darkness," he whispered, his hand trembling slightly grasping the bottle, "Ragnarok and Anubis's memories were given to me, to purge the light and fill its void with the sordid shadows of their souls," Jonas's face warped for a moment in recollection and his eyes blackened with an inky film.  
  
Selmak's hand went to the staff weapon at his side but Bra'tac rested his hand onto the Tok'ra's shoulder in reassurance.  
  
The young man's eyes then sparkled, dissipating the ink with light, "I was able to transfer the codes to Major Carter when I, when I," he blushed deeply and coughed.  
  
"Oh," O'Neill replied, smiling slightly looking towards Sam's father who had taken control back from Selmak.  
  
Jonas turned to face Jacob and touched the other man's temple with his fingertips generating a picture in his mind, "Sam?" The older man said, softly.  
  
========  
  
Major Carter held her hand up for Ja'ra to stop. They were working their way along the hive like corridors of Anubis's warship when a voice entered her thoughts.  
  
Ja'ra narrowed his hazel eyes, questioning the Major's sudden halt, worried that they would be found, "we must continue, the private chamber is close," he said pulling his large shoulders back in authority.  
  
"Wait, I thought I heard something," she replied putting her own fingertips to her temple.  
  
"Sam," there it was again, spinning around her head, "dad?" She said softly, "dad are you okay?  
  
"Yes, we all are, for now, Anubis is dead" came the reply with a sudden flash of her father's face, "but Herak is still on board and may be able to use the Eye of Ra."  
  
She smiled, relieved, "understood," she said as the image buzzed and faded leaving her alone in her reflections.  
  
Jacob watched Jonas's eyes change to green and saw the vibrancy of truth in their hue, he nodded, satisfied; the Kelownan smiled.  
  
========  
  
Jonas sat down on one of the rocks that cluttered the sand and opened his hand. The gold pendant that had lain forgotten on the floor flew into it; he watched it dance in the sunlight for a second before handing it back to Doctor Jackson.  
  
Daniel took it gratefully catching a glimpse of its mirror image embossed on Jonas's palm.  
  
Jack sat down next to the Kelownan and looked towards Bra'tac whose shadow fell across his knee, "glad to have you back old man."  
  
"As I am glad to be back, human," the Jaffa replied, he then turned to Jonas feeling the young man's angst, "it was an honour to help you Jonas Quinn," he said with a slight bow of his head.  
  
"I am sorry you suffered because of it," the Kelownan said softly watching the wind rouse the loose ground around his feet.  
  
Bra'tac shook his head, "it was my choice."  
  
"Okay, I'm confused," Jack said looking from one to the other and then to Daniel.  
  
Jonas kept his head down observing the simplicity of an incandescent beetle shuffling across the sand, "Colonel, do, do you remember the last night we spent here, when Anubis invaded the planet of Urder to destroy the Asgard?" He said picking the creature up with gentle hands.  
  
O'Neill nodded remembering how Daniel, Bra'tac and himself had watched the young man survive a series of near fatal convulsions while the room had filled with terrifying screams.  
  
"Before, before the planet's anguish flowed through me," Jonas continued, "I had a feeling, a premonition, a warning if you like that, that something 'bad' was coming, something beyond Anubis and Ragnarok, something dark," he said, turning his hand so the beetle could amble over his knuckles.  
  
"Okay," Jack said still no clearer.  
  
"I knew this darkness needed Olmec's knowledge to turn the universe in its favour and that at some point it would come for me to, to take it," Jonas sighed putting the beetle back down on the ground away from harm.  
  
"I would not be able to stop it," he continued in almost a whisper rubbing his temple to guard against some painful memory. "So with Bra'tac's permission I joined with him to pass on as much of Olmec 'power' as was safe for his body to carry. I was still weak from the run in with Anubis and the Lycaons and my body had not adjusted to holding Olmec's energy so it was easy to trick it into transferring part of the power to a stronger body. When the darkness finally took me it only extracted half of the light."  
  
"But thought it had taken it all," Daniel said watching the beetle saunter off into a small crop of vegetation, "but why Bra'tac, why not Cassie?"  
  
Jonas smiled and looked at the Jaffa apologetically, "because no one would think to look for it in such a lowly being. If I'd passed it on to Cassie, the power would have joined with her, because of her abilities, and the, the darkness would of felt this. Bra'tac does not possess any such powers or senses, so he could be safely used as a, a 'container' with no harm to himself."  
  
"But you killed him!" Jack said looking at the bloody gash in the Jaffa's clothing.  
  
Bra'tac raised his eyebrows at the Colonel, "the light can only be passed on when one is weak or close to death, O'Neill" he said, "Jonas Quinn told me of this, so I knew the risks involved. When he stabbed me the energy that I held was transferred back to him."  
  
He then looked passed Jack into some distant memory; "I have served one false God, without question, for most of my life, human, this thing I choose to do as a free man."  
  
O'Neill nodded in understanding.  
  
Jonas held out his hands palms up. Two spheres appeared, hovering above them, one of white light, the other of dark matter. "Now we are both equally balanced, the darkness and myself," he said in a soft, ominous, voice.  
  
Daniel watched the two floating orbs, his mind deep in thought as he massaged the bridge of his nose. He turned and walked over to the hooded figure of Ragnarok holding his arm against his body to combat the ache in his shoulder. He looked down at the host for a moment and then squatted beside him carefully removing the heavy mask that obscured his features. He placed it to one side and then looked on the disfigured face now revealed. It was as if all humanity had been burnt from it with spiteful malevolence, blistering and corrupting the skin with disease leaving ulcerous cankers and open lesions; it bore little resemblance to that of the Kelownan's.  
  
"Dear God," Jacob exclaimed.  
  
"He's still alive," Daniel said feeling the beat of Ragnarok's heart.  
  
"Yes," Jonas replied, unable avert his eyes for the host, "only his body, his mind is dead."  
  
"Why?" Daniel asked, frowning.  
  
"If he dies, he will ascend."  
  
"No, hang on, this, this thing's evil won't he descend?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"No, Colonel," Jonas replied, "you forget, he is already halfway to ascension but he couldn't completely transform because Anubis was inside of him."  
  
"Ah, that's why they were looking for a new, prettier, host for big A," Jack said kicking at the snake-like creature decaying on the ground.  
  
Jonas nodded, he felt a coldness creep over him, "now Ragnarok's just an empty vessel waiting to be filled, again," he said almost in a whisper.  
  
"Filled by what?" Jack asked not liking where this was going.  
  
Jonas hesitated pressing his hands together and placing them under his nose as if in prayer, "the darkness is coming, Colonel" he said softly, "and it will need a host so it can play one last hand to win control of the universe. Once it takes on corporeal form, like Olmec, it can be defeated. We do not have much time, it will sense the shift in power, their loss, my return and it will come seeking vengeance."  
  
Teal'c jogged across to where they were standing and handed them a Zat gun and an MP9, which Jonas declined.  
  
"O'Neill," Teal'c said, "Rak'nor has scouted ahead to the complex, Anubis has left most of his Jaffa to fortify this base and guard the stargate. They have already erected several energy cannons."  
  
"Oh, great and here we are with just a handful of weapons," Jack replied watching the advancing figure of General Hammond.  
  
"We have faced greater odds, O'Neill," the dark Jaffa replied.  
  
"Yeah, well it doesn't mean I gotta like them. Jonas any chance you could do your thing with the lightening stuff? " Jack asked but Jonas wasn't listening.  
  
"It's coming," he said bracing himself against the sudden gust of wind that whipped the impoverished soil into their faces.  
  
"Where the hell did that come from?" Asked Hammond shielding his eyes as the ground began to vibrate.  
  
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Jack stated as he watched the earth swell and crack open in front of him.  
  
A bloated tendril of blackness spiralled out from the bowels of the rupture, its movement resembling the semi-liquid flow of a soft metal as it coursed toward the 'sleeping' body of Ragnarok.  
  
Jonas turned toward Bra'tac, "you must go," he said knowingly, "it has warned Anubis's Jaffa."  
  
The old man nodded, leaving Rya'c with his father, he signalled to Malek and the others to move off.  
  
General Hammond and the rest of SG1 stayed behind but moved back to take up defensive positions by the Kelownan as the host's body absorb the tar like entity.  
  
Ragnarok immediately jumped to his feet and his eyed glowed blood red, "you tricked me," he hissed toward Jonas.  
  
A storm gathered in the sky overhead ripping through its fabric with a golden hammer of thunder and lightening. The disfigured man gestured towards the ground which opened like a freshly dug grave as it vomited a sword of magma and death into his opened hand. He looked towards Teal'c who had trained his staff weapon on the former host, "your weapons cannot harm me, Shol'va," he spat turning back to the Kelwonan.  
  
He raised the dark metal of the sword that dripped with fire and plague and slashed the air in front of Jonas, laughing, "this time you will stay dead."  
  
The young man closed his eyes and pushed him back with a concentrated burst of energy, "do you think I would be this unprepared," he said whispering to the storm and holding his hand out.  
  
A ribbon of soft air gathered in his palm drawing the fire and water from the sky and a handful of earth from the ground. The elements twisted in his grasp and transformed themselves into the sword with a crystal hilt.  
  
Ragnarok's burning eyes narrowed, "the sword of Niflheim," he whispered between clenched teeth, "how did you forge it without killing the dragon for it is written that no man can do both."  
  
Jonas smiled and looked towards Teal'c, "no one man can do both," he corrected turning back to his opponent. "I did not slay Nidhogg therefore the sword was mine to forge with the elements of the underworld."  
  
Ragnarok laughed once more and fixed his eyes on Jonas who braced himself for the first attack.  
  
"General," he said turning his head quickly towards Hammond, "this is not your battle only your victory will insure mine."  
  
The General nodded and looked at Jack, "Jonas," O'Neill began, not wanting to leave the kid with this, this 'thing'.  
  
"Colonel," the Kelownan said shaking his head, "I can only win 'this' battle, if you succeed in defeating the rest of Anubis's army," he smiled sadly, "it's a balance thing, remember."  
  
"Yes, Colonel remember that," the creature inside Ragnarok hissed, "for when I've finished with your boy here, I'll come for you and dance on your broken corpse."  
  
"Okay, okay, General, Teal'c, Daniel let's go kick some Jaffa arse," he said priming his weapon, "hey Jonas, make sure you save a small piece of laughing boy for me."  
  
The Kelownan smiled.  
  
=======  
  
Still more to come..  
  
:0) 


	14. Rendezvous

Disclaimer, only this story is mine, mine, mine, all mine!  
  
No money, only a few coppers that Pud-o gave me so I could buy lunch.  
  
Hi, thank you all for your kind reviews, bit tired after writing this chapter!!!  
  
I'm afraid that being in the UK we haven't seen season seven yet but I'm keeping up-to-date with it on various web sites.  
  
This is for you CT because of your baddie ankle.  
  
=======  
  
It may be he shall take my hand  
  
And lead me into his dark land  
  
And close my eyes and quench my breath--  
  
It may be I shall pass him still.  
  
I have a rendezvous with Death  
  
On some scarred slope of battered hill,  
  
When Spring comes round again this year  
  
And the first meadow-flowers appear. Alan Seeger - Rendezvous  
  
============  
  
The swords clashed, their noise fuelling the storm that was pleating the insipid sky with uneven threads of spiteful light. Jonas felt the press of violence jar his body as he shielded himself with his own blade against his opponent's dedicated arm. Each blow brought the two men closer, in body and in thought, as Jonas felt the creature's sweeping mind moving battle scenarios around like chess pieces on a board.  
  
The sword was heavy in his hand, each attack, defence and counter attack, was testing his skills of avoidance, his ability to judge and manipulate timing and distance. He edged forward, trying to command the air between them with his metal, swooping at Ragnarok with his back edge but the darkness blocked the attack and then countered, slashing the Kelwonan's unguarded arm.  
  
Jonas jumped back feeling the delicate rhythm of blood drift along his arm, dancing in freedom from his veins. His mind pounded as the action transferred information between them both, "Sam," he whispered as he felt the creature's deliberations.  
  
========  
  
Sam used her fingers to push the pattern of symbols that flashed in her mind, the door to Anubis's chamber slid open without any resistance, "sweet," she responded, smiling.  
  
Ja'ra followed the Major into the sparsely furnished room his mind watching the corridor for fear of discovery, his body knotted and tightly wound.  
  
Sam studied the layout of the area, closing her eyes to develop a clearer picture of what Jonas had conveyed to her.  
  
She moved the palm of her hand over a lustrously decorated counter top and was drawn to a dragon emblem carved into its wood. She touched the creature's emerald head and a mechanism clicked a cadenced approval revealing a secret compartment. Sam picked out a metallic pyramid, about two feet in height, from the hollow and smiled putting it to one side.  
  
"I thought we came to destroy this ship not search for such trinkets," Ja'ra seethed, his impatience showing.  
  
Sam turned to face him, "there is something I must do first," she said.  
  
=======  
  
Herak walked commandingly around the Pel'tak (command deck) awaiting his master's return. He looked out onto the planet, surveying its outer atmosphere, keeping close guard in case of enemy attack. He thought he heard something and quickly scrutinized the few Jaffa who were manning the consoles; they looked at him inquiringly. He rubbed his temple as a sharp pain probed at his nerve fibre, pushing thoughts of ice into his mind. His eyes fell in understanding and he signalled to several Jaffa to follow his lead.  
  
=======  
  
Sam looked down at the coloured controls feeling the knowledge of their keys at her fingertips. She went to initiate the first sequence when a creeping unease settled in her chest. She looked towards Ja'ra who felt a foreboding tickle at his senses, making him awash with sweat.  
  
She felt a sudden pain slice through the skin of her left arm, she looked down and watched in horror as a deep cut suddenly materialised seeping blood into her uniform. Her mind blanked, unexpectedly, and she felt Jonas try to connect with her but the thoughts were indistinct and confused as if scrambled.  
  
======  
  
Jonas watched as a smile of contempt spread across the Raganork's scared face, taunting him with the life of his friend. His anger rose, the darkness inside of him swelled and surged through his being, mixing with the light, renewing his strength. He smiled back, lifting his sword in attack, pushing forward with restored drive.  
  
Ragnarok parried the incensed onslaught of the young man, which pushed him further back with each irregular cut and block of metal. Jonas's purpose urged him on, feeling his rival weaken with every heavy stroke, the sword of Nifhelm throbbing with power, as it and the Kelownan became one entity under a ragged sky.  
  
Ragnarok tried to counter the decisive blows but was caught on the face with the tip of Jonas's sword, cleaving the skin, which bled a syrupy blackness. The creature withdrew to a safe distance, its life fluid blistering from the gaping wound.  
  
=========  
  
Sam felt a change flow through her as the distortion in her head began to form words. She looked down at her arm and found it unharmed, "quick," she said to Ja'ra, as she understood the echoes in her mind.  
  
=========  
  
Herak reached Anubis's private chamber and saw that two Jaffa were already by the closed door. Both bowed respectively, "we thought we heard an intruder, my lord," one of them ventured.  
  
Herak nodded dismissively and pushed passed them to enter the code to unlock the door. Before finishing he signalled for the Jaffa from the bridge to check the surrounding corridors and bring any prisoners to him.  
  
The door slid open and the two Jaffa entered, carefully, followed by Anubis's first prime.  
  
Herak surveyed the chamber, sanitizing it with his eyes as his head buzzed with the throb of information. He rubbed his forehead fumbling through the darkness in his mind, trying to make sense of the empty chamber, which was his mission. He then turned to one of the Jaffa, studying him closer than before. He sharpened his eyes as recognition flashed through his limited psyche, fuelling his task, "Ja'ra," he hissed as traitor funnelled through his thoughts.  
  
He reacted before the word dripped from his lips, bring his staff weapon up towards the Jaffa, "Shol'va," he spat, "where is the woman?"  
  
"Here," the other Jaffa said, discharging an electrical burst from a zat gun.  
  
Herak collapsed to the floor and Sam removed the mimic device from her neck, transforming her from a heavyset Jaffa in an oscillation of watery energy.  
  
She walked back to the console and began to initiate the self-destruct as Ja'ra watched by the door. She smiled to herself, thankful that Anubis was suspicious enough of his own Jaffa to use a mimic device to walk amongst them and pledging to buy Jonas as much onion rings and milk as he could eat in one sitting.  
  
============  
  
The world exploded around him in a fiery mushroom of dust. Jack pitched to the floor, once more, trying to merge with the ground as the cannon angrily blasted the air to quash any advancement. He snaked backward, checking on the two fallen Jaffa that had made up his vanguard but they lolled lifelessly, covered in the arid soil, "damn," he said, spitting the dirt from his mouth.  
  
He rolled himself back down the slope of a ready-made foxhole they had been using for cover and pressed against its side, "T, Daniel?" He enquired above the harsh eruptions of energy and the groans of the storm overhead.  
  
Two sandblasted figures moved to the left of him signalling they were safe and sound, although Daniel held his arm gingerly to his chest. O'Neill then checked on his CO who had been injured in an earlier sortie to take out the cannon.  
  
General Hammond looked at his Colonel and smiled trying not to let the pain from his leg show in his demeanour. Jack's eyebrows knitted together at the older man's grin, "first time injured off world," the General explained, his accent becoming more apparent.  
  
O'Neill shook his head and then proceeded to checked on the hasty bandage and loosened the tourniquet slightly, "how we 'really' doing, here General?" He asked as his hands moved, attentively, over the wound.  
  
"Fine, Jack," Hammond coughed, "how're we doing, son."  
  
"Oh you know us, Sir, we'll have them licked in no time," he replied as Rya'c brought a bottle of water to the General's lips.  
  
The boy too had sustained an injury to his shoulder but had carried on, running messages from each small block of resistance.  
  
Teal'c nodded to his son as the boy relayed that Bra'tac's position was caught in crossfire and had made no progress to take out the Jaffa to the west of them.  
  
Jack sighed and fell back onto the incline of the ditched rubbing the top of his nose in thought, what they needed now was a miracle.  
  
============  
  
Jonas dodged another advance as Ragnarok severed the air transversely in front of him. The sword left a rusty imprint and an acrid smell in its wake, staining the clarity of the air. Jonas stumbled aimlessly back as the creature renewed its onslaught with a rejuvenated vigour striking a blow across the Kelownan's chest. Ragnarok press forward with his blade, seizing his advantage, but was prevented from doing further harm by a forceful block by Jonas.  
  
Both men leaned in, with crossed swords; determination etched on their faces, challenging each other's might like two like rams in a rut. Above them the tempest mirrored their emotions, snapping along the sky with the blinding light of vengeful angels and pissing on the demons in hell.  
  
Ragnarok brought his free hand up and imprinted the tips of his fingers onto Jonas's temporal bone trying to dig out his concepts with an acute and penetrating spade. The Kelwonan shut his eyes trying to outmanoeuvre the marauder inside his head, tying to build barricades of barbwire.  
  
The darkness pushed deeper into the maze of Jonas's head, buzzing along the neural pathways, attempting to link and destroy but the Kelownan countered, blanking his thoughts building his defences with words of brick.  
  
"Andromeda, Antlia, Apus, Aquarius, Aquila, Ara, Aries, Auriga," he recited the list of constellations, slowly, driving them along the connection, making an unassailable blockade that the darkness could not transcend.  
  
They were propelled apart in an arch of black and white hitting the ground with momentum.  
  
=======  
  
It was Daniel who saw it first, curving bright and clear against a sky filled with angst, its engines veiled in the surrounding torment. His mind stuttered at the distant object weaving its way toward the battle, trying to evaluate its progression and the feeling of dread that was dithering in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed, "glider," he said pointing.  
  
Teal'c and Jack turned their eyes skyward tracking the machine that was flying in their direction, "oh, great, just great," Jack exclaimed.  
  
The Jaffa remained calm, his eyes examining the shape of the craft, "O'Neill that is not Goa'uld, it is too small."  
  
They all watched as the spacecraft circled their position and then flew up into cloud cover followed by a salute of cannons.  
  
Teal'c smiled, "I believe it is an Asgard short-range attack vessel," he said.  
  
Jack felt the hair on the back of his neck rise in expectation, "hit the deck," he yelled, shielding the General with his body.  
  
The clouds above them broke, like curtains before a theatrical performance and a rain of fire, aimed at Anubis's cannons, accurately hit their mark with a series of explosions.  
  
"Strike one for our side," O'Neill shouted above the noise, "now, let's go kick some Jaffa arse."  
  
===================  
  
Jonas and Ragnarok circled each other, both trying to avoid any further physical exertion while their bodies recovered.  
  
The storm's energy had dissipated leaving the sun to cauterise the heavens and heal its cracks, while birds bustled in its glow struggling to dry their wings.  
  
The demon's eyes flickered in the heat as the balance tipped consuming the energy held in Ragnarok's frail form. His stare burned the Kelownan with its intense rage as he felt his desire stride out of his reach. He pulled back and grabbed the blade of his sword, dragging it over his flesh until it oozed with the black of his blood. A mantra of unholy words scoured his lips, carried on breath thick with mildew, expanding towards the sun, turning the swallows in the air to a float of black crows.  
  
========  
  
SG1 took up positions around the Tok'ra base as Anubis's Jaffa retreated without purpose. A buzz of excitement rallied around the rebels as they pressed their cause within sight of victory.  
  
Bra'tac came to join them as his unit had secured their objective and now could aid others in the fragmented skirmishes that still prevailed.  
  
Jack nodded at the old man whose eyes flared with exhilaration, "ah, it is good to do battle again, human," he said tapping O'Neill on the shoulder.  
  
"Back at you," Jack retorted ducking another staff blast.  
  
Teal'c turned and scanned the compound as an apprehension spread through his senses like water dripping down the back of his neck.  
  
He motioned to O'Neill and they watched with trepidation as behind them the shimmering heat began to waver erratically off the ground. Its transparent dance opened into flame, burning through the air with an unearthly fire that revealed a doorway of smouldering blackness and out of this pit of hell bounded several Lycaons.  
  
============  
  
Jonas felt the Lycaon's arrival plunge through his body with a clenched fist of aggression causing him to fall forward and vomit an earthy bile.  
  
Ragnarok's tired face stretched into an uncomfortable sneer and with deteriorating strength raised his dark sword ready to strike. The Kelownan's senses prickled as he noticed the long shadow cast by his enemy dip into the crevasse that the darkness had crawled out of.  
  
Jonas drew on his reserves, throwing himself forward, pushing into the host's unguarded midriff, with body and mind, propelling him toward the gap in the earth, before he could react.  
  
Ragnarok stumbled backward into the opening but managed to twist his body round so he could grab at the side. The Kelownan steadied himself at the edge in a shower of frail earth and looked down at the host clinging to an exposed root while his sword dangled into the void. They locked eyes and Jonas brought his foot down on Ragnarok's hand securing it beneath his sole. He then brought his sword up and with a burst of energy slice through the host's wrist. Ragnarok plummeted down into the abyss the darkness lighting their fall with flaming eyes.  
  
============  
  
The Lycaon studied O'Neill in its shallow amber eyes, clicking in celebration while sniffing the Colonel's odour. Around them several more creatures were fighting over the fallen body of an unsuspecting Jaffa, while Teal'c and Daniel held their ground against one more. Jack fired his weapon again in a futile attempt to injury it in some way but the Lycaon disappeared for a moment then reappeared catching its claws across Jack's arm.  
  
Bra'tac came to his side to aid him, "O'Neill," he said nodding his head toward a figure running in their direction.  
  
Jack narrowed his eyes, "Jonas?" He questioned.  
  
The Lycaon spun round and tasted the air as a new more powerful scent slapped its senses. The others did the same, their bodies becoming stiff as they locked on the approaching figure.  
  
Jonas held out Ragnarok's severed hand and muttered the words he had heard spill off the host's lips earlier. Dark blood pooled from the wrist, mixing with the earth, re-opening the dimensional doorway. The Kelownan stepped back as he perceived the threatening advance of the creatures, attracted not only to magnetic allure of the darkness dripping from the detached hand but also the weeping of his own wounds. He closed his eyes, digging deep into his fatigued body and with one last determined effort created a shield around him. He then threw the hand, quickly, into the billowing entrance, which was followed by a rush of Lycaons; the doorway collapsed.  
  
Jonas rocked on his feet, a little, and looked across at O'Neill and smiled. Jack returned the sentiment with a flick of his lips and walked over to the younger man. Daniel went to say something but stopped as the ground opened up behind Jonas pushing Ragnarok from its bowels.  
  
The host limped forward like some disjointed zombie, holding the decaying stump to his body as he slashed his blade, in fury, across Jonas's back.  
  
"No," Jack cried, the word echoing around the buildings of the complex.  
  
Jonas sank to his knees, resting on the point of his weapon, as fresh blood choked and tumbled from his mouth.  
  
The darkness lifted its blade and walked toward the fallen man, fettered by Ragnarok's cumbersome body, which was broken and dying.  
  
Teal'c tried to stop the creature's graceless progression by firing on it but the shots just dissipated, with a static flare, off a faltering shield.  
  
Jonas shut his eyes tight and placed both hands on the crystal hilt moving the blade up between the side of his body and his arm. He then rose to his feet and stepped back, giving his body over to the sword so it could fulfil its destiny with a thrust of his arms. The blade connected with Ragnarok, penetrating his torso with a satisfying crack of bone as it channelled its way through.  
  
The Sword Of Nifhelm forged, again, with the brilliance of lightening sparking from its hilt along the blade into the impaled body of the host. Ragnarok's carcass danced as the flickering light surged through him, illumining the frozen cry from his mouth and purging the darkness with the purity of the elements.  
  
Bra'tac ran to Kelownan to catch him as he pulled the sword out from Ragnarok's chest, "put, ground," he whispered to the older man letting the weapon fall from his grasp.  
  
The old Jaffa looked at O'Neill who swiftly took the sword in his hand and drove the point into the soft earth.  
  
A spider's web of cracks fractured along the loam to where the host stood clutching the wound in his chest. A twist of grey vapours rose from the splintered earth, detached from the soft breeze, and entwined like eerie shackles around Ragnarok. They adhered to his body, fusing tight to the flesh, binding him until he resembled a living mummy. Whispers filled the air in assorted voices, a long forgotten language sang in the daylight with the birds uttering their judgement on the struggling form. Above them the sun bled across the sky in a sudden change of colour, pushing its injured light into the crystal hilt, which filtered an intense rainbow upon Ragnarok's face, pronouncing its ruling.  
  
The ground parted and both the darkness and its host were pulled down into hell's sinkhole.  
  
---------  
  
Nearly there... 


	15. Clouds

Disclaimer - as last time.  
  
Wow, again thank you all for the reviews xxxxx =o)  
  
===============  
  
A new moon leads me to  
  
woods of dreams and I follow  
  
A new world waits for me  
  
My dream, my way  
  
I know that if I have heaven  
  
there is nothing to desire  
  
Rain and river, a world of wonder  
  
may be paradise to me  
  
I see the sun...  
  
I see the stars...  
  
Enya China Roses  
  
===============  
  
Jonas looked into the depths of the sky, which was a scale of captivating blues, vaguely aware of the blur of faces surrounding him. He was tired and wanted to close his eyes and let his body soar into its vastness but something was holding him back, something would not let him fly.  
  
He face became perplexed as he sort the heavens in uncertainty, trying to find answers as bloody words escalated from his subconscious, "gully, half century, hat-trick, hit wicket, hook, howzat?"  
  
Jack looked toward Bra'tac who cradled the Kelwonan's head, and then at Daniel, his forehead knotted at the unfamiliar phrases.  
  
Daniel lightly stroked Jonas's brow without looking up, "they're cricketing terms, Jack, there's an Almanac in the library."  
  
O'Neill nodded, "hey Jonas, Jonas," he said softly.  
  
The young man looked in the direction of the voice and smiled a disarming smile, "s-sir, we, we won," he said, fumbling for Jack's hand.  
  
"Yeah, we did, kid," Jack replied, giving the hand a celebratory squeeze, "now I want you to concentrate on getting better, do you hear me."  
  
Jonas shivered, "t-tired," he said blankly, "Teal'c?"  
  
"I am here Jonas Quinn," the Jaffa replied, crouching down beside the Kelwonan.  
  
"Rya'c?"  
  
"He is here also."  
  
Jonas looked to the boy who was at his father's shoulder, "the sword," he began, "w-would you would you, fetch it?"  
  
Rya'c nodded and left them for a moment, "h-he, he fought well," Jonas said coughing slightly, "I see it in, in your eyes, my friend."  
  
Teal'c bowed his head and laid his hand, lightly, on the Kelownan's chest, "you must rest Jonas Quinn," he said, his eyes betraying his concern.  
  
Rya'c knelt beside his father holding out the metal sword to Jonas, "no, no," the Kelownan said, weakly "the, the s-sword is yours now, so, so you can tell your c-children and your children's children of the battle fought, fought here today."  
  
The boy looked at the beauty of the embellished weapon and nodded, "I will make sure all remember this day of freedom," he said, in his father's voice.  
  
Jonas's eyes moved from side to side, "daffodil, dahlia, daisy, damask rose, dandelion."  
  
O'Neill looked up towards the compound, beyond the weary figures milling around, mopping up the debris of the battle, "what's taking so long?"  
  
Daniel shook his head unable to answer, his heart sinking, wishing he could alleviate the Kelownan's suffering. He had been surprised by how little blood there was discharging from the wound on Jonas's back and had checked the laceration finding it had sealed shut to stop something more deadly from escaping.  
  
"I will try to find Jacob Cater, O'Neill," Teal'c stated, getting to his feet.  
  
"No need Teal'c," Daniel said nodding to the approaching figure.  
  
Jacob joined the circle of friends and leaned over Jonas, his hands supporting a glowing healing device, "Jack," he said tentatively.  
  
"Damn it Jacob, it's worth a try!" O'Neill spat back.  
  
The older man commenced moving the curative apparatus over the Kelownan in a circular motion. Jonas's body writhed for an instant and then he cried out in agony. Jacob stopped and shook his head, "perhaps it is for the best," Selmak stated from within.  
  
Jack felt his body go rigid as he clenched his jaw and if it hadn't have been for Daniel's steadying hand on his arm he would have lashed out at Carter's father.  
  
"Jacob, what about using a symbiote?" Daniel said calmly.  
  
"No, no", Jonas said, gripping O'Neill's hand tighter.  
  
"Jonas," Daniel answered, "it could be your only choice."  
  
The Kelownan swallowed and caught his breath, "D-Dr Jackson, please don't get me wrong, I, I don't want to d-die," Jack looked away, "but it, it would not s-survive. My body would, would, see it as an antigen and destroy it."  
  
He face furrowed with pain and he brought his hand, feebly, to his forehead, "altocumulus, altostratus, anvil, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus, cirrus."  
  
"Clouds?" Jack asked.  
  
"Yeah, Jack, clouds" Daniel replied.  
  
A stark light phased around them, drawing their attention to the silhouettes that appeared from within it as Commander Thor, Ja'ra and Sam stepped into the sunlight.  
  
Sam smiled quickly at her father before turning her concern to Jonas, "Colonel?" She asked looking into her CO's solemn face.  
  
Jack grimaced and looked her straight in the eye, "no," she whispered under her breath and knelt down so Jonas could see her.  
  
"Hey Sam," he said.  
  
"Hey hero," she replied gently touching his cheek.  
  
"Did, did you bring it?"  
  
"Jonas I don't think."  
  
"S-Sam," he said, taking her hand, "please."  
  
Sam looked at the rest of SG1 and then from the bag she was carrying pulled out the metal pyramid she had taken from Anubis's chamber followed by the six 'Eye of Ra' disks. Jonas motioned for her to give them to Daniel.  
  
Daniel looked down at the objects in his hands, "but, but why didn't you destroy them with the ship," he exclaimed.  
  
Jonas's eyes closed for a moment and then he began to ramble, oblivious of Daniel's question, "the s-sky was so, so blue and there was, was very little breeze."  
  
His forehead lined in memory and his eyes sprang open, "I, I went to feed the pigeons, M-Mr Gerrit, our neighbour, kept, kept pigeons on the roof. He had n-names for them all, names of long dead family members k-killed in the last war, in the, the fire that had enveloped the city. There were always feathers c-curling around like, like snowflakes but there was no breeze that day, j-just birds in cages with frighten eyes and a, and a carpet of white manufactured by agitation."  
  
Sam looked at Daniel and spoke gentle, stroking the Kelownan's arm, "Jonas."  
  
He blinked several times and rejoined the here and now, "the disks, insert them in the relevant cavity, it will, it will, activate a, a, channel of energy, like the S-Stargate, into the atmosphere, creating a, a buffer to protect the p-planet.  
  
"From weapon to shield," Daniel echoed, studying the disks.  
  
"I'm guessing it's a balance thing," O'Neill interjected.  
  
Jonas smiled, "it's a present, a, a thank you from the u-universe, a s- starting point for your alliance," he began to cough, his eyes half closed reaching back into the past, "the birds were so quiet, each one staring at me, s-scrutinizing my, my every movement with a, a cock of their head. Their silence was, was unsettling like they were a-aware of something I, I was not."  
  
The stargate initiated a watery wave; Bra'tac let Jonas's head rest, gently, on the soil so he could gather his weapon.  
  
Colonel Makepeace stepped through the gate with the rest of SG3 and more SGC units including a medical team. He found and saluted the General, "Sir, the SGC is back under our command," he said with loud exuberance.  
  
The General looked slightly puzzled, "we had a bit of help sir," Makepeace explained, turning to watch Cassandra come through the gate.  
  
Hammond smiled and nodded, meeting Cassie's gaze, he then began to bark orders at his troops.  
  
"The r-roof seemed stagnant," Jonas continued, oblivious, "like a, a needle caught in a v-vinyl groove unable to play time's music and move on; even the, the noise from the city below seemed distance and, and surreal. I turned my head, slowly, walking, walking out into the bubble of d- discovery, feathers dancing in my, in my wake, stirring like, like clouds before a storm. It w-was then that I noticed it, on top of the, the enclosing wall, a discarded shoe, a r-red shoe, Mama's best shoe. It was like a beacon, bright, n-newly decorated with, with feathers, drawing me to touch it and unlock its, its secret. It was only a s-short distance away but my steps took, took forever to reclaim it."  
  
======  
  
Cassie walked along the dirt, her feet imprinting her journey, her face firm, her eyes remaining fixed on her objective. She knew why SG1 were huddled in a group, she knew Jonas lay there among them, she felt it, the universe, writing its epilogue with his life force and her heart bloated with tears. She stopped and silently kneeled, casting her shadow with the rest of the group across the sand.  
  
SG1 all watched in hope as Cassie place her hand on the Kelownan's torso feeling the softness of his heartbeat, pounding to a different time. She closed her eyes, sensing the scars of his disorientation wandering aimlessly around his mind.  
  
Jonas, she whispered into this unsteady void, Jonas, it's me, Cassie  
  
Cassie, his eyes opened, again, but the fog of death was clouding their clarity, did you see her lying broken on the rooftop below? She left her shoe, her best shoe.  
  
Jonas look at me, see me, Cassie said calmly.  
  
The young man looked into the translucency of the eggshell blue of her eyes, "Cassie," he said, bringing his hand up to her cheek.  
  
She kissed it tenderly, tears increasing down her delicate face and he smiled for her from the harp of his heart.  
  
Let me try to heal you, she said clasping his hand tight and bringing it to her chest.  
  
It cannot be done, he answered, it would kill you to try.  
  
Her face broke as a sob escaped from her soul, no, she cried, bringing her fingertips up to caress his face, please Jonas, fight this, I, I love you.  
  
She let the words fly between them and nest in his heart, their sentiment shattering his eyes with tears as if he had been blind to the possibility.  
  
Sam put her arm around Cassie to comfort her but the girl leaned towards Jonas and kissed him on lips as a woman, sealing a promise, she hoped, the universe would keep. Jack went to say something but Cassie spoke first, "Colonel," she said, handing him back the baseball diamond, and wiping her sleeve across her face.  
  
Jack took it and examined it. The stone now held four cracks that travelled from top to base and crossed at its centre.  
  
He looked to Cassie again and for the first time noticed the woman in her eyes, hell, he thought, when did she get so grown up.  
  
Jonas looked for Daniel in the group sea of faces, "r-remember," he said in faint voice, "four, as in the, the manuscript."  
  
He then breathed deeply and a smile lit his face, "I can, I can smell the sea, hear the w-waves. Sam?"  
  
"Yes Jonas."  
  
"Will you, will you say the w-words?"  
  
"I, I," she looked to O'Neill her eyes like polished glass and swallowed, trying to break the tightness in her throat.  
  
"The sky's above me, the grass is so sweet, this journey's circle, is not yet complete," the tender words flutter in the silence but they did not fly from Major Carter's lips.  
  
A new shadow fell over the Kelownan and Jack turned his head to gaze upon the fragile, ivory, beauty of a woman. Her mystical sea-green eyes smiled warmly at the group and her blue robes sailed in the zephyr that was splaying her richly curled hair like a white-blonde halo.  
  
Cassie stood up and looked at the virtuous woman who seemed to flow before her, like a reflection on a pond. She held out her hand warily and the woman took it in her own as an understanding passed between them without uttering a single phrase.  
  
Cassie smiled and her whole face lit up with its radiance. She turned to the others and nodded, motioning for Bra'tac to move back.  
  
The woman took his place and lovingly gathered Jonas to her, "Mia," he whispered in a gasp of air.  
  
She put her finger to his lips and kissed his forehead resting her hand on his chest. Jonas's body stiffened as a vivid light passed from him to Mia animating her with its power and flickering glow. He relaxed for a short moment and then became restless as a glistening blackness spewed from his body and eddied towards the sun like a swarm of unsettled bees.  
  
Mia placed her palms together and closed her eyes establishing her link with the universe. She smiled sadly and took Jonas's branded hand in hers, holding it to her bosom, for a while, before leaning over to kiss him softly on the cheek. The young man cried out in pain and became still as his limp arm dropped down to his chest and Mia vanished.  
  
=====  
  
Only one more to go...  
  
Take care x :o) 


	16. The Cabin

Well this is it, maybe I can sleep now 8o)  
  
Disclaimer - they're mine, all mine, nah, only kidding.  
  
The poem - Death is nothing at all - Henry Scott Holland 1847-1918, cannon of St Paul's Cathedral  
  
Get off of my cloud - Rolling Stones  
  
Again, thank you for all your inspiring reviews, this is for you guys ;o)  
  
=====  
  
Jonas's eyes flinched against the light as he struggled to open them oblivious to his surroundings. His body stirred against the crispness of cotton sheets and above him a ceiling fan kept time with his heart. He lay there, for a moment, watching it spin, delighting in the simple pleasure of breathing in the refreshing air that circulated.  
  
He was alone in his head, the universe had gone, his were the only thoughts inhabiting its ambience. His contemplations turned to Mia and the brief moment they had been allowed to share. He felt the pain of loosing her again ply with is heart and yet he knew, more than ever, she was there with him, just in a different room.  
  
He focused on the strong wood beams above his head, clearing the cotton wool that was furring his brain with distant words etched deep in its abyss.  
  
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of shadow upon it.  
  
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner  
  
All is well.  
  
The words whispered in the hushed tones of a lullaby, prickling his skin with emotion. He drew his left hand from out of the covers and looked down at the emblem that was glowing in his palm, feeling a peace settle within him.  
  
He dug his elbows into the firm bed and slowly sat up to survey the uncluttered room. His body resisted with an unfamiliar stiffness but he persevered, finally leaning against the carved oak headboard to collect his thoughts and energy.  
  
The cool air hit his naked torso and he smiled at the sensation rubbing his hand across his chest, feeling the life flowing through him. Sunlight spread like melting butter into the room, from a netted window, and he felt the collective comfort of friends.  
  
Outside, birds sang along to the manufacture music drifting in on the reach of the curtains as well as the smell of treated wood and flaming meat.  
  
Jonas smiled and swung his legs out of the bed, again with great endeavour, and tried to stand, using the headboard for leverage. He fought against the spinning in his head and using the wood of the wall for stability made his way to the closet bathroom.  
  
He sat on the cover of the toilet and ran the tap, splashing his face with ice-cold water, relishing its freshness and the taste of it on his dry lips. He stood again, a little uneasy on his feet and found himself limping back to the bedroom without the aid of the wall.  
  
He began to put on the neatly folded clothes waiting on a wicker chair, however he discovered this simple task to be laborious as his hands and body seemed in conflict with his mind, causing him to fumble, helplessly, into each item. He sat down on the bed and rested a while before putting on his shirt, catching a glimpse of his reflection in an oblong mirror hanging on the wall.  
  
He went over and touched its glass his eyes following the network of sinister scars fused to his flesh like slivery, tortuous, trails. He let his fingertip absently meander along one, the bitter memory of its origin still strongly entwined around his soul with barbs that would wound for a lifetime. He fought against the pain of recollection throwing the cotton shirt over his back to cover the welts and ridges that puckered his skin, sitting back down on the bed to try and concentrate on the buttons.  
  
"Need any help there?" Jack asked as he watched the Kelownan try to connect button with hole for the forth time.  
  
"Colonel," Jonas said standing to face the doorway while wiping the perspiration from his hands down his jeans.  
  
Jack strode into the room and placed a bottle of beer down on the bedside cabinet, along with the medical equipment that littered its polished surface, before facing Jonas. He took the shirt firmly in his hands and began to fasten it, trying to ignore the burnished skin that adorned the young man's chest. A memory stirred, a reaction to the indignant expression Jonas was trying to hide as he worked his way through each button, a memory of doing the same task for his son.  
  
When he'd finished Jonas sat back down on the bed watching the breeze hide in the curtains. Jack picked up his bottle of beer and sat down beside him, picking at the label, "Cassie said you'd wake up today," the Colonel said to the room.  
  
Jonas smiled and ran his fingers through his untidy hair, making little impression, "in fact," Jack continued, "we were running a book on it."  
  
"Oh," Jonas said, turning to the Colonel, "who won?"  
  
Jack looked at his watch, "Teal'c", he replied with a small nod of his head.  
  
They sat in silence for a moment longer, "Jonas," O'Neill said with a slight cough, "I don't do this so well, that's why I've got Daniel or Sam, hell even Teal'c to usually do all this, this, you know, speech stuff for me," he took another swig from the bottle while the Kelownan looked at the floor, "we've got you a little present, to sorta say thanks, with this being your first time saving the universe and all. You did well kid," Jack added quickly before handing him a neatly wrapped package.  
  
"May I?" The Kelownan asked politely.  
  
"Yeah, knock yourself out," O'Neill said, "you may of noticed it's not a fishing rod," he continued with a smirk, peeling off the remains of the label from the beer.  
  
"So this is the famous O'Neill cabin," Jonas said looking around him before turning his attention back to the glittering package.  
  
Jack nodded, "Yep, best place for I know for some R & R," he stated, patiently watching the young man's trembling hands clumsily unwrap the parcel.  
  
The foil paper fell gracefully to the floor revealing a pair of sunglasses in a pristine black case, "Ray-Ban Predator," Jack enlightened, clicking the case open, "as worn in the film 'Men In Black."  
  
"Thank you Sir," Jonas said, his voice a little shaky.  
  
"Hey, it's from all of us, the General too," O'Neill replied.  
  
"No, Sir, for everything."  
  
Jack sighed, "Jonas you're part of SG1, part of our team, part of our family," Jack stated, then retreated back to his comfort zone, "hell, that food smells good, you hungry?" He asked getting to his feet.  
  
The young man smiled and nodded as O'Neill helped him up, gently linking with the symbol on his hand. Jonas felt a flash of images and sensations flood his mind from the Colonel's subconscious.  
  
"Whoa," O'Neill said, sensing the intrusion in his head and stepped back, "what the.?"  
  
"I, I still have my ability," Jonas said quietly, more to himself than the Colonel, as they both looked down at the intense light radiating from the eye on the young man's palm.  
  
"I'll get you a glove," O'Neill countered as he walked off into another room, "and then get Doc Fraiser in here to give you the once over."  
  
=========  
  
Jonas sat lazily in the recliner observing the light-hearted buoyancy of his friends floating around him, fuelling the overfed sun with merriment. He closed his eyes listening to the fizz of their conversations, tasting the sugar of their emotions and enriching himself on the champagne of this small moment in time. He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes sensing that Cassie stood before him. The light surrounded her in an aura of gold as the breeze fingered her hair onto her face, which she brushed aside before taking the warmth of his hand in hers.  
  
They walked leisurely away from the group, Jonas limping significantly against her elegant pace and rested on a fallen tree trunk, stripped by time. Their shadows stretched toward the regal presence of Pike's Peak whose venerable head touched the sky divulging the secrets, spoken on the wind, to be judged.  
  
Jonas looked into the day that was sprinkled with pollen, searching for sentences in the muted glow that was yellowing everything with age.  
  
"I felt you with me," he said as the dry grass hushed the playful air, "when I'd given up hope, when the darkness had all but taken me, I felt your light," he swallowed his words, "Cass," he continued, "what you did."  
  
She put her finger to his sensuous lips to stem the stutter of words seeking their freedom, "Jonas, I love you," she replied, her eyes like open wounds, her face freckled against the sun, I, I know you don't feel the same," she turned away to follow a circle of birds drifting with abandonment on a thermal while her heart sank like a rock.  
  
Jonas took his glasses off and fought against light as he slowly guided Cassie's face back toward his with a gentle hand. He smiled at her and swept the loose, gossamer, hair from her eyes before melting his lips tenderly onto hers in a kiss overflowing with truth and promise. This time there was no hesitancy in the pledge of his being, this time the moment sparkled around them in one giant, colourful, leap of faith as their lips danced, sealing their fate like two moths to the flame of love.  
  
=========  
  
Jack watched the two silhouettes blend into a couple against the backdrop of a contented summer. He thought about striding into the fray with the burger he carried but a soft dissuasive hand on his arm, wrestled him from that decision. His eyes drifted to the horizon while his mind looped, aware of the teasing blue notes of her perfume, reminding him of the ocean, softening the view. He turned to face her, to argue his point but she smiled that smile.  
  
"Sir," Sam began earnestly, her voice poetic and soft coiling around him, "I been thinking about what Jonas said to Six when we shared his memory, 'they push you too hard for one not long made'. Remember in the dormitory there were only small beds, no cots and the one tank, that was left, would have been large enough to take."  
  
"A child," Jack finished.  
  
"I think that's why Jonas is such a quick study because he was 'born' into the body of a six-year-old he had to learn all the things we take for granted in double time."  
  
Jack pondered this for a moment, "sooo, you're saying he's younger than we think?"  
  
Sam nodded and O'Neill turned back to the couple on the log, that would explain a lot, he thought, absentmindedly taking a bite of the burger.  
  
"You know, Carter," he said raising both eyebrows in her direction, "we're off duty, hell, we're celebrating, we saved the world, you can call me Jack."  
  
"I know Sir," she said turning and walking back into the haze with a smile that would melt the sun.  
  
Jack shook his head, looked down at the half-eaten burger and then to Cassie and Jonas, they'll come back when they're hungry enough, he shrugged and followed Sam towards the music of the Stones that travelled on the breeze.  
  
The telephone is ringing I say, "Hi, it's me. Who is it there on the line?" A voice says, "Hi, hello, how are you?" Well, I guess I'm doin' fine He says, "It's three a.m., there's too much noise Don't you people ever wanna go to bed? Just 'cause you feel so good, do you have To drive me out of my head?"  
  
I said, Hey! You! Get off of my cloud Hey! You! Get off of my cloud Hey! You! Get off of my cloud Don't hang around 'cause two's a crowd On my cloud baby  
  
The end  
  
=====  
  
Okay that's it for now..  
  
I have a sort of tag on to this but I really need to work on some original stuff for a bit and I really, really need a holiday!!!!!! (ask Sgt Pud-o)  
  
Then, I have to seek out and find a new baddie from the pages of myths and legends for the next instalment..  
  
Thanks to CT for the 'Goa'uld named Colin' idea (hmmm)  
  
Stay safe and a big, gigantic THANK YOU (and hug) to you all.  
  
Me xxx 


End file.
